Mark Cuban bet on a Wall Street firm that thrives on volatile markets (VIRT)

pulse

February 13, 2018 6:48 PM

Mark Cuban of "Shark Tank" told CNBC on Tuesday that he recently invested in Virtu Financial.

Billionaire Mark Cuban of "Shark Tank" told CNBC on Tuesday that he recently invested in
Virtu has been on a tear since volatility stormed the markets last week.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban of "Shark Tank" fame told CNBC on Tuesday that he recently invested in high-frequency trading firm Virtu Financial.

Shares of Virtu popped 1.5% soon after Cuban's remarks on CNBC.

Cuban said he invested in the high-speed trader during last week's market turmoil.

"There was blood in the street with the VIX, and everybody got leveled shorting the VIX," Cuban told CNBC. "So what did I do, I bought puts on the VIX. Not huge positions, but enough to be interesting. I also bought some VIRT, Virtu, because they do HFT, high-frequency trading. And they make money off of volatility."

Markets have seen a return of volatility after more than a year in the doldrums, and that has been a blessing for Virtu.

The company's stock is up more than 40% since the beginning of last week.

The news of Cuban's investment in the company was received well by chief executive officer Douglas Cifu. Here's Cifu in a tweet:

@fintechfrank @mcuban @John... @ Doug Cifu

Here's a chart showing Virtu's stock price movement the beginning of the year:

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