Ryan Jacob
CEO, CIO & Portfolio Manager, Jacob Internet Fund
Ryan Jacob is the Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Jacob Asset Management, which he founded in 1999. He guides the investment team in developing financial models, conducting market research and selecting stocks. Ryan is the Chief Portfolio Manager for Jacob Forward ETF since inception in 2021. He also is the Chief Portfolio Manager for Jacob Internet Fund and Jacob Small Cap Growth Fund since both Funds’ inceptions in 1999 and 2010, respectively.
At age 29, Ryan was among the youngest individuals ever to launch a mutual fund – the Jacob Internet Fund. For two decades, he has been at the forefront of technology investing, navigating a period that included one of history's most profitable markets, as well as the downturns of 2002 and 2008.
A founding partner of Horizon Asset Management in 1994, a New York-based investment advisory firm, Ryan directed research and analysis for IPO Value Monitor during the period when Internet companies began to go public. In 1997 he took over portfolio management for The Internet Fund (currently Kinetics Internet Fund), one of the first funds focused on publicly-traded Internet companies, which he headed until 1999. From 1992-1994, he was an assistant portfolio manager at Banker’s Trust.
His philosophy embraces companies and industries that offer what he identifies as “game-changing” opportunities. In 2000, Crain’s New York Business named Ryan one of its “40 under 40,” stating “he stunned the investment world by turning the obscure Internet Fund into the top-performing mutual fund of 1998.” ii News, a publication of Institutional Investor, named him one of the Rising Stars of Mutual Funds in 2009.
Ryan is frequently quoted by the press for his insights into analyzing and assessing market opportunities for start-up companies as well as for established leaders across a broad mix of industries. He has appeared on CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business and has been profiled in Barron’s and Forbes and interviewed by nearly every major online and print business publication including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, Smart Money, Business Week and Fortune..