Michael Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, an investment firm that specializes in cryptocurrency investments.
He is the 1367th richest person in the world with a net worth of $2.5B.
Keep reading this article to learn about Michael Novogratz, his contributions to the crypto industry, and his successes and failures, so that you can be inspired and learn from him.
Early Life
Micheal Novogratz was born on 26 November 1954 in Virginia, United States. He was a wrestling champion at school and later became the captain of wrestling at Princeton Wrestling.
He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Princeton University. He first served as a helicopter pilot at New Jersey National Guard.
In 1989 he joined Goldmann Sachs as a salesperson. He served in Japan and Hong Kong before becoming a partner at the investment bank.
In 2002, Michael joined Fortress Investments and served as Co-Chief Information Officer at the Macro Funds at Fortress Investment Group before joining as the principal and director of Fortress Credit Corporation in 2006.
At Fortress, he endeavored to take macro trading to a large-scale business.
Micheal Novogratz had to come out of Fortress after he lost two bets in 2015 about the economic future of the world.
First, he betted around 150 dollars on the Swiss Franc. Then he betted that the interest rates of the Brazilian currency would fall after the then Brazil president Dilma Rousseff lost the elections.
But it so happened that Dilma won the election and Novogratz lost his bet.
How Did Michael Novogratz Venture into the Cryptocurrency Industry?
In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto started Bitcoin as the first cryptocurrency in the world. An astute businessman he is, Micheal Novogratz soon realized the potential of Bitcoin and invested in it in 2013.
Since then he has made many bets on various cryptocurrencies, which primarily made him a billionaire.
Micheal Novogratz is of the opinion that cryptocurrencies are a result of the worldwide financial crisis in 2008, which made people lose trust in traditional banks and other financial institutions.
People realized the faultiness of fiat currencies. The emergence of cryptocurrencies was a ‘decentralized revolution’, according to him.
In the beginning, cryptocurrencies were a mystery, but Micheal Novogratz still decided to bet on this uncertain business.
Novogratz actively ventured into investing in cryptocurrency after he was removed from being the partner of Fortress Group after he lost some of the bets that he made on behalf of the group.
This was in 2015. He lost his billionaire status too. Crypto, in spite of its inconsistencies, caught the attention of this veteran businessman.
In 2013, Micheal Novogratz initially invested 7 million dollars to buy bitcoin. Novogratz decided to leverage the volatility of the coin spurred by uncertainty and speculations.
Bitcoin’s price then is a hundred dollars per coin. Novogratz was determined to try his ‘luck’, as he called it.
But it was not mere luck. Novogratz was adept at raising capital even during his stint at Fortress.
Novogratz made the most of the speculative nature of cryptocurrencies. He is realistic in thinking that cryptocurrencies would never take over the strong fiat currencies such as the dollar.
However, he is of the opinion that cryptocurrencies can help those investors who would like to trade without the hindrances posed by centralized governance.
In early 2016 he also bought ether, the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain.
Novogratz’s Philanthropic Endeavours
As big a businessman as he is, Novogratz was also involved in philanthropic activities. He has supported the cause of parents of children diagnosed with cancer.
He gave them a voice by speaking about cancer treatment, which is so expensive that it leaves families bankrupt.
He also conducted wrestling competitions to fund his charity organization ‘Beat the Streets’, which supports the cause of children’s welfare.
What is Micheal Novogratz now?
Now that Bitcoin is a start in the cryptocurrency industry with an unprecedentedly high price, Novogratz has regained his billionaire status.
But Novogratz is well aware of the volatility of cryptocurrency and views its current price surge as a ‘speculative mania phase’.
Micheal Novogratz is currently the CEO of Galaxy Digital. Galaxy Digital was founded in 2017.
He wanted to launch a cryptocurrency hedge fund, which never materialized, and had started preparations for the same in 2017, but it did not materialize as he found the market unfavorable.
Nevertheless, Micheal Novogratz is a brilliant visionary who made the most out of the speculative world of cryptocurrencies.
Though he was a sidelined leader on Wall Street, he will be marked in history for his daringness to invest in crypto at its most vulnerable state.
