# Atish Davda

> Atish Davda is the New York-based co-founder and CEO of EquityZen, the private-company share marketplace acquired by Morgan Stanley in January 2026. A Penn engineering and Wharton graduate, he worked at AQR Capital Management and Ampush before co-founding EquityZen in 2013 with Phil Haslett and Shriram Bhashyam. His own difficulty selling startup shares helped inspire the business. He writes and speaks about employee equity, private markets and building financial technology.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at EquityZen; described by Morgan Stanley’s 2026 Invested at Work podcast as Head of Private Markets and EquityZen
- **Organizations:** EquityZen, Morgan Stanley, Ampush, AQR Capital Management, PennPAC, Forbes Finance Council
- **Education:** B.S.E., Computer Science & Engineering; minor in Mathematics; summa cum laude, University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering and Applied Science, B.S., Economics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led EquityZen through its acquisition by Morgan Stanley., EquityZen had more than 800,000 registered users and over 49,000 transactions across more than 450 companies by the October 2025 acquisition announcement., Graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

## Career timeline

- **Childhood** — Moved from India to the United States at age 12, according to his own account.
- **2008** — Graduated from Penn and began working at AQR Capital Management as a research analyst.
- **2011–2013** — Worked at Ampush as VP of Product and launched its New York office.
- **2013** — Co-founded EquityZen with Phil Haslett and Shriram Bhashyam.
- **2020** — EquityZen selected as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer.
- **2025-10** — Morgan Stanley announced an agreement to acquire EquityZen.
- **2026-01** — Morgan Stanley completed the acquisition on January 27.
- **2026-09** — EquityZen highlighted his Invested at Work interviews on private-market access and leadership.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led EquityZen through its acquisition by Morgan Stanley.
- EquityZen had more than 800,000 registered users and over 49,000 transactions across more than 450 companies by the October 2025 acquisition announcement.
- Graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.
- Worked on the team responsible for AQR’s $4 billion Global Stock Selection strategy.
- Served on PennPAC’s advisory board.
- EquityZen was named a 2020 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum; this was recognition of the company.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — EquityZen published a September 15 recap of Davda’s Invested at Work interviews about employee liquidity and leadership.
- **2026-02** — On February 19, Morgan Stanley announced standard EquityZen buy-side and sell-side fees would fall from 5% to 2.5% for most transactions; $5,000 minimums continued.
- **2026-01** — Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of EquityZen on January 27.

## Links

- Website: https://equityzen.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atishdavda
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/adavda

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/atish-davda
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22