Henry Ward

Co-founder and CEO of Carta

Henry Ward is the co-founder and chief executive of Carta, the company that manages capitalization tables, equity compensation, valuations and liquidity for private companies and investors. The Milken Institute biography says Carta is trusted by more than 50,000 companies.^[1][2]

Carta was founded in 2012 as eShares by Ward and Manu Kumar, and Wikipedia describes Ward as CEO since the founding. The company renamed itself Carta in November 2017. The Next Web reported Carta's 2025 revenue at $500 million.^[1][4]

Education and earlier career

The Milken Institute biography, supplied by the speaker, lists a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Michigan and a master's degree in market finance from EDHEC Business School. Before Carta he founded and led Secondsight, a portfolio optimization platform for retail investors, and held leadership roles at the software companies Reddwerks and BetweenMarkets.^[2]

Funding and growth

Wikipedia lists a $17 million Series B led by Spark Capital in August 2015, a $42 million Series C led by Menlo Ventures and Social Capital in October 2017, and the September 2017 purchase of Silicon Valley Bank's valuation business. An $80 million Series D at an $800 million valuation followed in December 2018, a $300 million Series E at a $1.7 billion valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz in May 2019, and a 2020 round at $3.1 billion. In total the company has raised about $1.2 billion.^[1]

In September 2022 Carta acquired the UK competitor Capdesk. Wikipedia gives scale figures as of August 2022: more than $2.5 trillion in tracked equity, $13 billion in secondary-market sales and 1,618 employees.^[1]

CartaX and the trust reset

Carta launched CartaX, a private-share marketplace, in January 2021, and in February 2021 sold just under $100 million of its own stock there. In January 2024 Linear CEO Karri Saarinen wrote that Carta had approached an unpublished investor in his company about selling shares to outside buyers, although Linear had not opted into secondary sales.^[1][3]

TechCrunch reports that Ward apologized, blamed a rogue employee who broke procedures, and announced that Carta would exit secondary trading, saying holding customer data makes people suspect misuse. He said the business generated about $3 million a year, far less than the cap-table business, and that the company had decided to prioritize trust. Wikipedia reports that Carta's valuation fell below $2 billion in 2024, about 75 percent below its 2022 peak, a figure the article does not source.^[1][3]

Workplace and legal disputes

Wikipedia records several disputes during Ward's tenure: a 2019 change to employee separation policies, a July 2020 discrimination and retaliation lawsuit by a former marketing executive, an August 2020 New York Times report on employee treatment, an October 2023 suit by a former employee alleging misconduct at a 2022 event, and a 2024 suit by a former CTO. It reports settlements with a former executive and with the employee in January 2025.^[1]

Recent moves, 2025 to 2026

In May 2026 Carta acquired Avantia, a UK-based AI-powered law firm serving more than 200 asset managers, and launched Carta Law, a legal and compliance layer inside its private capital platform. The Next Web calls it the company's fourth acquisition since October 2025, after Accelex, Sirvatus and ListAlpha.^[1][4]

Ward argues that the largest private equity firms pay premium law firms for routine, high-volume legal work they should not have to pay for. The Next Web pairs that with a caution: Carta Law would draw on privileged communications and investor identities, which raises the stakes of any repeat of the 2024 data-use lapse.^[4]

Ward was listed as a speaker on the Milken Institute Global Conference 2025 panel 21st Century Lessons in Leadership on May 6, 2025.^[2]

Why he matters

Ward built the system of record for private-company ownership, and his decision to exit secondary trading after the 2024 episode shows the tension between holding sensitive data and monetizing it. His expansion into fund administration and legal work depends on customers continuing to trust Carta with that data.^[1][3][4]

On The Executive List

Henry Ward is ranked No. 53 on The Executive List (October 2026) in the Chief Executive Officers discipline. The ranking reflects The Executive Review's own editorial Trending Score; it is not an outside award, and placement on the list is never sold. View the October 2026 edition.