Baiju Bhatt

Baiju Bhatt is an American entrepreneur and billionaire. He is the founder of Cowboy Space Corporation, a company that is building a power grid in outer space for artificial intelligence. Using an integrated system of satellites and rockets, we will send high-performance compute and optical data transmission to Low Earth Orbit.

He is recognized as the co-founder of Robinhood, a zero-commission stock trading platform that has influenced how Americans participate in financial markets.

Bhatt co-founded Robinhood with Vlad Tenev. He has described Robinhood as inspired by the ideals of democratizing finance. When Robinhood launched its mobile app, Bhatt focused on product and design, emphasizing user research by gathering feedback from students on Stanford's campus. This approach contributed to Robinhood becoming the first finance app to receive an Apple Design Award. Following a funding round that increased Robinhood's valuation to $6 billion, Bhatt and Tenev became billionaires. Robinhood later made its public debut with a $32 billion valuation.

Bhatt served as co-CEO and co-president of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and later as chief creative officer. He stepped down from his executive role while remaining on the company's board of directors. Bhatt has been recognized by media outlets, appearing in Fast Company Most Creative People and Fortune 40 Under 40 lists. His influence on popular culture was highlighted when he was portrayed by Rushi Kota in the film "Dumb Money," a drama about the GameStop short squeeze.

Bhatt has also entered the space technology sector. His space startup, Cowboy Space Corporation, closed a $275 million Series B round and focuses on building orbital data centers powered by proprietary rockets. Originally founded as Aetherflux, the company initially aimed to harvest solar energy in space before pivoting to orbital data centers. The team includes engineers from SpaceX, Astranis, NASA, Kuiper, and NVIDIA. Bhatt personally participated in the funding round, and the venture has raised approximately $365 million. Cowboy Space reflects Bhatt's approach to identifying and disrupting large-scale markets in both fintech and space technology.

Bhatt earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Stanford University, where he also completed a master's degree in mathematics. Before Robinhood, Bhatt founded two finance companies in New York City. In interviews, Bhatt has discussed his family's financial challenges, particularly after his father was diagnosed with kidney failure. These early experiences with financial hardship informed his mission to make investing accessible.