Michael Intrator Net Worth 2026: The Former Hedge Fund Manager Who Turned Crypto-Mining GPUs Into a $10 Billion AI Fortune
Michael Intrator represents one of tech’s most improbable success stories. A former natural gas hedge fund CEO with zero tech background pivoted from failed energy trading to Ethereum mining to building America’s fastest-growing AI cloud infrastructure company. Born around 1968-1969, Intrator co-founded CoreWeave in 2017 as a cryptocurrency mining operation before recognizing that specialized GPU computing had far greater potential serving AI researchers than mining digital coins. Today, at 56 years old, with an estimated net worth of $10.3 billion as of December 2025, Intrator serves as CEO and Chairman of CoreWeave—the company valued at $41 billion that provides the GPU infrastructure powering everything from OpenAI’s ChatGPT to Runway’s video AI models. His journey from commodities trader to crypto miner to AI infrastructure mogul captures technology’s breakneck evolution: the same graphics cards once mining cryptocurrency now train the artificial intelligence models reshaping civilization. As demand for AI compute explodes and CoreWeave battles through execution challenges while sitting on a $55.6 billion revenue backlog, Intrator’s fortune represents both the immense promise and considerable risks of the AI infrastructure boom.
From Political Science to Natural Gas: The Unexpected Path to Tech
Michael Intrator earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Binghamton University and a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he focused on environmental policy. His educational path pointed toward government service or policy work. Nobody predicted this political science graduate would become a tech billionaire.
From September 1998 to July 2014, Intrator served in roles of increasing responsibility at Natsource Asset Management LLC, including as a Principal Portfolio Manager. Natsource combined asset management with environmental markets expertise. At its peak, Natsource had over $1.2 billion in assets under management and commitments. As Principal Portfolio Manager, Intrator invested in global environmental markets and related energy products. He led teams that structured and syndicated large project-based carbon transactions. This work connected his environmental policy education with finance.
From January 2013 to January 2018, Intrator co-founded and served as CEO of Hudson Ridge Asset Management LLC, a natural gas hedge fund. He brought co-founder Brian Venturo aboard as portfolio manager. The hedge fund focused on fundamental, systematic natural gas trading. They built machine learning models to analyze data-heavy energy markets and pick investments.
Then fracking changed everything. America’s shale revolution flooded natural gas markets. The hedge fund’s investment thesis collapsed. After the U.S. veered into its fracking boom era, they closed Hudson Ridge, leaving “a lot of time on their hands,” Venturo says. Instead of joining another fund, Intrator and his partners looked for new opportunities.
The GPU Garage: From Ethereum Mining to AI Infrastructure
In 2017, as Bitcoin and Ethereum soared, Intrator and Venturo partnered with Brannin McBee to explore cryptocurrency mining. CoreWeave’s transformation from cryptocurrency mining operation to AI infrastructure powerhouse began in 2017 when co-founders Michael Intrator, Brian Venturo, and Brannin McBee recognized that their GPU expertise could serve more valuable purposes than solving cryptographic puzzles.
They first established Atlantic Crypto Corp., which focused on ethereum mining with Nvidia GPUs. They chose ethereum because it didn’t require specialized hardware. Their ethereum effort first consisted of one GPU on a pool table in a Wall Street office. Soon the pool table was covered with GPUs. The trio later turned Venturo’s grandfather’s garage in New Jersey into a data center.
But they had an advantage most crypto miners lacked. Intrator and his hedge fund partners “wanted to understand from the commodity side, how is this made”. They approached mining as commodities traders analyzing production economics. When the 2018 cryptocurrency crash wiped out most miners, Intrator saw opportunity. The company’s early days were marked by aggressive GPU acquisitions during the cryptocurrency boom, rapidly scaling from hobbyist operation to industrial-scale mining with thousands of graphics cards.
“One GPU turned into hundreds, then tens of thousands via strategic acquisitions of distressed hardware during the ‘crypto-winter’ of 2018/2019, and our portfolio of facilities grew to seven,” Intrator wrote in a 2021 blog post. While competitors dumped GPUs at a loss, Intrator bought them cheap. He was building infrastructure for a future he couldn’t yet see.
The Pivot: EleutherAI and the AI Training Business
In 2019, facing Ethereum’s shift toward proof-of-stake that would obsolete GPU mining, Intrator made the critical decision. In the wake of the 2018 cryptocurrency crash, in 2019 the company was renamed CoreWeave, leveraging its large inventory of GPUs to start providing cloud computing infrastructure to companies.
Initially, CoreWeave targeted visual effects rendering and general GPU computing. The company began leveraging its GPU expertise to provide cloud infrastructure for visual effects rendering, launching Concierge Render and acquiring Leonardo Render platform. These were steady businesses but not transformative.
The breakthrough came through experimentation. They connected with EleutherAI, an open source group working on a large language model. CoreWeave offered access to their GPUs in exchange for help learning about AI training and announced a partnership in 2022. “We thought we were just going to learn how the infrastructure worked,” Venturo says.
But EleutherAI was working with hundreds of people building AI startups and “it was this total springboard moment for us.” The good will from working with EleutherAI led these startups to become paid customers. It was “total luck [that] started the training business”. Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion, became an early customer through the EleutherAI connection.
The NVIDIA Alliance and OpenAI Partnership
Intrator made two prescient bets in 2022 that would define CoreWeave’s future. In the summer of 2022, the company invested heavily in Nvidia’s latest and fastest H100 chips, spending around $100 million on the purchases. When ChatGPT launched in November 2022 and sparked the AI boom, CoreWeave already had H100 inventory competitors couldn’t access.
Breakthrough arrived in 2022 when OpenAI selected CoreWeave as an infrastructure partner for GPT model training, attracted by their ability to rapidly deploy thousands of A100 GPUs with InfiniBand networking—a configuration optimized for large-scale training. This validation from AI’s most important company transformed CoreWeave overnight.
In April 2023, Nvidia invested $100 million in CoreWeave. This wasn’t just capital. The company’s symbiotic relationship with NVIDIA transcends typical vendor partnerships, with NVIDIA maintaining approximately 6% equity stake as of March 2025 and consistently selecting CoreWeave for inaugural deployments of breakthrough architectures. While AWS, Google, and Microsoft built their own AI chips, NVIDIA rewarded CoreWeave’s loyalty with preferential GPU allocation.
The IPO Rollercoaster and $10 Billion Fortune
By 2024, CoreWeave was generating massive revenue. CoreWeave reported a net loss of $863 million last year, with revenue soaring 737% from a year earlier. The company planned a blockbuster IPO.
After initially setting its price target at $47 to $55, with a plan to raise about $2.5 billion at the middle of the range, CoreWeave slimmed down the offering, a reflection of investor skepticism. The market worried about capital intensity and customer concentration.
CoreWeave announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 37,500,000 shares of its Class A common stock at a public offering price of $40.00 per share on March 27, 2025. CoreWeave’s stock opened at $39 and closed at $40 in its Nasdaq debut on Friday. The lukewarm reception disappointed Intrator.
“There’s a lot of headwinds in the macro,” CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. “And we definitely had to scale or rightsize the transaction for where the buying interest was”. But what happened next shocked Wall Street.
Three months after a tepid public offering, a surge in CoreWeave Inc.’s stock has vaulted its chief executive officer into the ranks of the world’s 500 richest people. In the last two months, CoreWeave’s stock price has tripled. By late June 2025, CRWV surged to $183.58. The AI cloud-computing provider has gained almost 300% since its March IPO, pushing CEO Michael Intrator’s net worth to $10.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That makes him the 311th-richest person in the world.
Michael Intrator, cofounder and CEO of CoreWeave, an AI cloud-computing company, grew his net worth from $5 billion to $10 billion in just 12 days during June 2025. This is an extraordinary achievement, given that it usually takes a billionaire over three years to double their wealth.
Co-Founders’ Fortunes and the Finance Background Advantage
The company’s CEO is not alone in benefiting from the stock’s success. The wealth of fellow cofounders also has soared. According to Bloomberg, CoreWeave’s chief strategy officer, Brian Venturo, is now worth $6.4 billion, and Brannin McBee, the company’s chief development officer, is worth $4.7 billion.
The rise in their net worths may be credited to the fact that CoreWeave has secured many of the world’s biggest tech companies as clients and partners, with the list including Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft.
All three founders pocketed over $150 million apiece by cashing out of shares ahead of the IPO. This wasn’t just paper wealth. They systematically monetized portions of their stakes while maintaining alignment with shareholders.
Despite their success disrupting the tech industry, all three founders interestingly do not come from tech backgrounds; they come from the world of finance—underscoring that breaking into AI doesn’t require a resume line from a top tech company. Their commodities trading background gave them unique advantages: understanding capital-intensive infrastructure businesses, managing complex procurement, and thinking about supply-demand dynamics.
CoreWeave in 2025: Explosive Growth and Execution Challenges
As of December 2025, CoreWeave operates as America’s fastest-growing AI infrastructure provider. Our exceptional third-quarter performance, with revenue reaching $1.4 billion, up 134% year over year, reflects the strength of CoreWeave’s vision. The company serves AI’s biggest names.
In March 2025, OpenAI signed a five-year cloud-computing contract worth approximately $12 billion with CoreWeave for its AI infrastructure needs. The deal allowed OpenAI to acquire a stake in CoreWeave through a private placement of $350 million worth of shares during the IPO. This landmark contract validated CoreWeave’s technology and financial model.
According to the filing, Microsoft accounted for over 60 percent of CoreWeave’s revenue in 2024. 77% of 2024 revenue came from its top two clients, with Microsoft alone accounting for 62%. This concentration represents both strength and risk.
CoreWeave’s revenue backlog stood at an astounding $55.6 billion as of Sept. 30 (up from $30.1 billion just three months earlier. The backlog demonstrates insatiable demand for GPU compute. But converting backlog to revenue requires massive capital investment.
In 2025, it had 32 data centers, with a total of 250,000 GPUs. This was a significant growth from 2024, when the company had thirteen data centers across the United States and two in the United Kingdom. CoreWeave expanded faster than any competitor.
The Debt Mountain and Capital Intensity Challenge
CoreWeave’s growth comes with staggering capital requirements. CoreWeave reported $1.9 billion of capital expenditures in the third quarter alone, and it guided to $12 billion to $14 billion of capital expenditures for full-year 2025.
CoreWeave’s revenue growth is explosive as data center demand skyrockets. However, the company is borrowing extensively to fund that growth. Its free cash flow is minus $8 billion over the past four quarters. In other words, cash losses are almost twice its revenue. The company is borrowing aggressively to fund its hardware purchases. Long-term debt has surged from virtually nothing to over $18.4 billion since just last summer.
Earlier this month, CoreWeave priced an upsized private offering of $2.25 billion of 1.75% convertible senior notes due 2031, up from an originally announced $2 billion. The company continuously taps capital markets to fund expansion.
Critics worry about financial sustainability. With a backlog that is far in excess of its quarterly limits, the company will undoubtedly strive to grow as fast as it possibly can. But there are limits to how fast a company can grow — especially in a capital-intensive business like AI infrastructure.
December 2025: Stock Volatility and Net Worth Fluctuation
CoreWeave’s stock has experienced extreme volatility in the second half of 2025. CoreWeave went public in March 2025 at $40 per share. At today’s ~$67.68, the stock is still up roughly 69% from the IPO price—but it is also down more than 60% from its mid‑2025 peak in the $180s.
By mid-December 2025, concerns about execution mounted. JPMorgan downgraded CoreWeave citing supply chain delays affecting revenue timing. The stock fell sharply. On December 19, 2025, CoreWeave shares closed at $83.00, up about 22.6% on the day, after opening around the high-$60s. The catalyst was a Department of Energy announcement and Citigroup analyst upgrade.
CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) CEO and President Michael N. Intrator sold shares of Class A Common Stock worth approximately $6.3 million on December 3, 2025. The sales occurred at prices ranging from $74.1706 to $79.5282. Intrator continues systematic stock sales while maintaining substantial holdings.
As of December 21, 2025, CoreWeave (CRWV) is trading at a price of 83.00. As of today, CoreWeave market cap is 41.36B. The stock’s extreme volatility reflects investor uncertainty about AI infrastructure economics and CoreWeave’s execution.
Michael Intrator Net Worth December 2025: Current Estimate
Intrator’s net worth fluctuates dramatically with CoreWeave’s stock price. The AI cloud-computing provider has gained almost 300% since its March IPO, pushing CEO Michael Intrator’s net worth to $10.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of late June 2025 when the stock peaked.
With CoreWeave stock down over 60% from June highs but up significantly from early December lows, Intrator’s current net worth as of December 21, 2025 is estimated between $4-5 billion. The exact figure depends on:
CoreWeave Holdings: Intrator maintains significant equity ownership. His net worth moves roughly with the company’s $41 billion market cap, though his exact stake isn’t fully disclosed.
Pre-IPO Cash-Outs: All three founders pocketed over $150 million apiece by cashing out of shares ahead of the IPO. These proceeds provide diversification.
Ongoing Stock Sales: Recent SEC filings show Intrator systematically selling shares. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.88, for a total transaction of $3,844,000.00 in early December represents typical quarterly sales. Over 2025, he likely monetized $50-100 million in additional stock.
Real Estate and Investments: Beyond CoreWeave, Intrator holds diversified assets estimated at $100-200 million accumulated through stock sales and Hudson Ridge proceeds.
The wide volatility range—from $10 billion in June to potentially $4-5 billion in December—reflects CoreWeave’s stock swings and highlights the paper nature of tech billionaire wealth.
Leadership Philosophy: The Hedge Fund Manager Running an AI Company
Intrator brings unusual perspectives to tech leadership. Intrator says the company is focused on being best in class. “We are built for speed,” he said. “That is all we do, right? And when you build something to do one thing, you end up with a Lamborghini, not a minivan”. This single-minded focus on GPU infrastructure differentiation defined CoreWeave’s strategy.
“I don’t really care where it is today or tomorrow or the day after, but I believe fundamentally, the business model that we have, the software solutions that we have, the capacity to build and deliver this and the demand we see in front of us will lead to enormous value to our clients over time,” Intrator previously told Fortune. This long-term conviction sustained him through the difficult IPO.
A CoreWeave spokesperson declined to comment on Intrator’s net worth. Intrator maintains relatively low public profile compared to typical tech billionaires. He focuses on operations rather than publicity.
“There’s so many pieces of luck along the way, it’s crazy,” he said. Despite his success, Intrator acknowledges the role of timing and fortune in CoreWeave’s trajectory.
2026 Outlook: Risks and Opportunities
Looking toward 2026, CoreWeave faces both tremendous opportunities and substantial risks.
Bull Case Drivers:
CoreWeave’s revenue backlog stood at an astounding $55.6 billion as of Sept. 30. Converting this backlog represents multi-year growth visibility. AI demand shows no signs of slowing. Major customers like OpenAI and Microsoft need ever-more compute for increasingly capable models. CoreWeave’s specialized architecture delivers performance advantages over general-purpose clouds.
The NVIDIA partnership provides continued GPU supply advantages. CoreWeave maintains first-to-market access to Blackwell and future architectures. As hyperscalers build their own chips, NVIDIA increasingly relies on CoreWeave as strategic partner and showcase customer.
Bear Case Concerns:
Execution remains the biggest challenge. For CoreWeave, execution is what matters. The company will need to bring new sites online on schedule, filling them with contracted demand, and do so without its cost of capital rising faster than its operating income. Data center construction delays already affected Q4 2025 revenue timing.
Customer concentration creates vulnerability. 77% of 2024 revenue came from its top two clients, with Microsoft alone accounting for 62%. If Microsoft or OpenAI shift to internal infrastructure or competitors, CoreWeave faces existential risk.
The debt burden grows continuously. Long-term debt has surged from virtually nothing to over $18.4 billion since just last summer. Rising interest rates increase carrying costs. CoreWeave must grow revenue faster than debt service.
Profitability remains distant. CoreWeave seems stuck in a chicken-and-egg situation, where it must grow to eventually turn a profit, but it must spend and borrow to achieve this growth. Without demonstrating sustainable profitability, the company risks losing investor confidence.
Competition intensifies. Hyperscalers aggressively build AI infrastructure. Startups like Lambda Labs and Crusoe compete for similar customers. CoreWeave’s advantages could erode.
Personal Life and Future Plans
Little is publicly known about Intrator’s personal life. He maintains privacy uncommon among tech billionaires. Looks like we’re going to welcome two more Hugging Faces to the family next year. My wife is a hero, Intrator posted on LinkedIn, revealing he’s married with children on the way.
At 56, Intrator shows no signs of slowing down. He remains deeply involved in CoreWeave’s daily operations and strategic decisions. The company’s success or failure will define his legacy and net worth trajectory.
Conclusion: The Most Unlikely Tech Billionaire
Michael Intrator’s estimated $4-5 billion net worth (December 2025) represents one of technology’s most improbable success stories. A political science major who spent two decades in environmental markets and natural gas hedge funds pivoted through cryptocurrency mining to AI infrastructure—becoming a deca-billionaire in the process.
Looking toward 2026, Intrator’s fortune could reach $6-8 billion if CoreWeave successfully executes its buildout and the stock rebounds, or could decline substantially if execution falters and investors lose confidence. The wide range reflects both CoreWeave’s tremendous opportunity and substantial risks.
His journey offers lessons beyond wealth accumulation. Domain expertise transfers across industries in unexpected ways. Commodities trading skills—understanding capital-intensive infrastructure, managing complex supply chains, analyzing supply-demand imbalances—proved more valuable for building AI infrastructure than traditional tech experience.
Timing and luck matter immensely. Intrator’s decision to buy distressed GPUs during crypto winter positioned CoreWeave perfectly for the AI boom. His willingness to pivot from failed ventures rather than stubbornly persist separated success from failure.
As AI transforms every industry, the infrastructure powering this transformation generates enormous value. CoreWeave’s $55.6 billion backlog demonstrates persistent demand. Whether Intrator can convert this opportunity into sustainable profits—and maintain his billionaire fortune—remains the defining question for 2026.
For now, the former hedge fund manager stands as testament that the path to tech billionaire status doesn’t require coding skills, Stanford CS degrees, or Sand Hill Road pedigrees. Sometimes it just requires recognizing that the GPUs in your grandfather’s garage could power the future.
