Dan Ives is taking his bullishness to a new level.
Ives, a tech analyst known for his AI conviction as much as his neon wardrobe, has left Wedbush Securities to form a “modern merchant bank” focused on AI, technology, and infrastructure. He’s partnering with the broker-dealer Yorkville Securities to form Yorkville Ives, where he’ll be a partner and senior managing director. The bank will combine investment banking, equity research, institutional trading, and principal investment, according to an announcement.
Business Insider caught up with Ives on Wednesday afternoon to talk about the new venture, which he predicted will eventually be “disrupting Wall Street” — he just didn’t share many details on how it will get there.
Ives said it was a “tough decision” to leave his eight-year career at Wedbush, where he continued to amass a huge following through his frequent TV appearances and seemingly endless optimism about tech stocks.
“My career — it’s trying to figure out what’s around the corner. With any change, there’s risk and opportunities. But for me, it’s the natural next step,” he said.
Ives had been toying with the idea of starting a firm for a long time and was waiting for the right partner. He said he had known then-Yorkville Securities for years and that they were in conversation for months.
“This was really about trying to figure out a one plus one equals four,” Ives said, adding that he brings his brand and research expertise, while the firm brings dealmaking experience.
The details of the equation are sparse, beyond the promise to be entrepreneurial and innovative. When asked about future clients, Ives said Yorkville Ives will serve public and private companies; when asked what types of transactions the firm will focus on, he said it will be a “Swiss Army knife”; when asked what he’s looking for in employees, he said he’s looking for “great people, great culture.”
As of Wednesday, Yorkville Ives had between 10 and 20 employees, with no “specific hiring plans” in place but a “wild amount of interest.” Ives said he’s not prioritizing any specific roles or backgrounds, and that anyone interested can email the address listed on the firm’s website. He declined to name specific challenges, saying only that the bank is new.
“You just have to convince people, you have to show them the results,” he said.
When asked detailed questions about hiring plans and clients over email, Ives said they are “looking for highly motivated and experienced Wall Street people across research, sales, trading, and banking. We will offer a sophisticated white glove modern merchant bank to clients of all shapes and sizes.”
Ives has taken roles outside equity research before. He’s on the advisory board of marketing technology company Zeta Global and was the chairman of Eightco Holdings, where he focused on cryptocurrency investments before stepping down in March.
The new bank will likely benefit from Ives’ name recognition, even if it’s still working out its strategy. Ives has more than 300,000 followers on X and is a flamboyantly dressed regular on financial TV programs.
His own expectations for the bank seem as ambitious as his clothing choices: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
