Dan Ives Launches Yorkville Ives Merchant Bank After Wedbush Exit

Dan Ives, one of Wall Street's most recognizable technology analysts and a fixture on financial media, has parted ways with Wedbush Securities to establish his own firm. The new venture, Yorkville Ives & Co., represents a significant career pivot — moving from the role of star sell-side analyst to principal and co-founder of an independent merchant bank.

Yorkville Ives & Co. is designed as a full-spectrum financial services operation, integrating investment banking, equity research, institutional trading, and principal investing under a single roof. That combination is notable: merchant banks that blend proprietary investing with client-facing services occupy a distinct and relatively rare niche on Wall Street, operating with greater flexibility than traditional broker-dealers but carrying different risk profiles than pure advisory boutiques.

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The move reflects a broader trend of high-profile analysts leveraging their brand recognition and institutional relationships to build independent platforms. Ives built his reputation largely through aggressive, often bullish calls on major technology names — the kind of commentary that generates significant market attention and media coverage. That visibility is a meaningful asset when launching a firm that will need to attract both institutional clients and deal flow from the start.

What the departure means for Wedbush's technology research franchise remains an open question. Analysts of Ives's profile are difficult to replace quickly, and their exits can reshape how institutional clients route order flow and seek research. For Yorkville Ives, the near-term challenge will be translating name recognition into durable client relationships across all four business lines simultaneously — a demanding operational lift for any new financial firm.

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