Henry Ward
Background
Henry Ward was born in California and studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Michigan, later earning an MBA from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. A seasoned software engineer and product architect, Ward worked in quantitative finance and enterprise software before co-founding eShares (Carta) in 2012.
Role at Carta, Inc.
Henry Ward is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Carta, Inc. A visionary technologist with deep conviction in the democratizing power of equity ownership, Ward founded Carta to replace paper stock certificates with an electronic ownership standard. Under Ward's transparent, resilient leadership, Carta grew from a tiny cap table utility into a $7.4 billion global financial infrastructure titan past $350 million in ARR, managing over $3.0 trillion in equity across 40,000+ companies. In January 2024, Ward earned widespread industry respect when he made the courageous decision to shut down Carta's secondary trading business to preserve customer trust, reaffirming Carta as the trusted sovereign ledger of the private markets.\n\nWard's courageous, principled leadership and philosophical dedication to economic ownership established Carta as the definitive operating system of private equity. Demonstrating extraordinary moral clarity in January 2024 by shutting down Carta's secondary brokerage within 48 hours to protect client trust, Ward guided Carta past $350M ARR and $3.0 trillion in managed equity, establishing an enduring standard of corporate integrity ahead of an IPO.