Mark Cuban bet on a Wall Street firm that thrives on volatile markets (VIRT)
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Billionaire Mark Cuban of "Shark Tank" told CNBC on Tuesday that he recently invested in Virtu Financial.
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:
Here's a chart showing Virtu's stock price movement since the beginning of the year:
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