Blythe Masters Net Worth, Crypto and NFT Investments

Blythe Masters, a renowned British entrepreneur and former Wall Street executive best known for her role in the advent of credit default swaps at JP Morgan, has an estimated net worth of around $5 million. However, most of her personal holdings are not publicly disclosed so it could be significantly higher. Masters’ success at JP Morgan led to her becoming the managing director at the age of 28, helping her grow her wealth at an impressive pace.

Masters left the organization for Digital Asset Holdings in 2015 as a result of JP Morgan selling off its commodities unit, the division she was leading. Masters experienced some initial success at DAH, but also experienced challenges as well. She served as CEO of DAH for 3 years until her departure in 2018. It is estimated that Masters depended mostly on her salary from JP Morgan, Digital Asset Holdings, Motive Partners, and FNZ Group.

Breaking Down Blythe Masters’ Net Worth

Blythe Masters is a private person who rarely reveals any details of her wealth. However, based on her various positions at major companies throughout her career, we can estimate that she has a net worth of about $5 million.

Asset or Income Source	Contribution to Net Worth
Leader of Commodities division at JP Morgan	Undisclosed
CEO of Digital Asset Holdings	Undisclosed
Founding Partner of Motive Partners	Undisclosed
CEO of FNZ Group	Undisclosed
Former board member of Credit Suisse	~250,000-500,000 CHF (Swiss Francs)
Total Net Worth	~$5 million

Blythe Masters’ Early Life

Blythe Sally Jess Levett was born on March 22, 1969, in Oxford, United Kingdom. She went to Ashford School for primary school before proceeding to the King’s School in Canterbury on a scholarship. Thereafter, she attended Trinity College, Cambridge where she earned a B.A in economics in 1991.

Prior to her graduation from Trinity College, Cambridge, Masters joined JP Morgan Chase as an intern. She became a full employee of the firm shortly after her graduation. Due to her dedication and commitment to the organization, she was elevated to the position of managing director at the age of 28, making her the youngest person to ever attain that position.

Credit Default Swap Innovation

Masters is considered one of the pioneering developers of the modern credit default swap or CDS. A credit default swap is a contract where one party buys insurance against default on a third party’s debt in an attempt to eliminate possible losses arising from default.

The abuse of CDSs and a similar type of instrument called collateralized debt obligations, were the main drivers behind the 2008 financial crisis. The motivation behind this initiative can be traced back to 1994 when JP Morgan extended a $4.8 billion credit line to Exxon, which was facing the threat of $5 billion in punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Extending such a massive line of credit in an uncertain situation worried executives at JP Morgan, including Blythe Masters, so it sought to offload that risk with a new financial instrument, the CDS. JP Morgan made a deal with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to pay them a fee to insure against default and generally reduce its credit risk. This strategy attracted huge attention, laying the groundwork for other banking institutions to incorporate the same tactic.

Masters’ rise at JP Morgan was meteoric. Between 2001 and 2004, she worked as JP Morgan’s head of Global Credit Portfolio and Credit Policy and Strategy. She then became the Chief Financial Officer of the World Investment Bank. In 2007, Masters stepped up to become the head of Global Commodities.

Meanwhile, Masters came under heavy scrutiny when the abuse of the derivatives initiative she crafted played a prominent role in the financial crisis of 2008. Other financial instructions applied the same strategy with extremely risky debt, namely subprime mortgages, at a massive scale, eventually leading to a market implosion. In her defense, the financial expert said many of the involved organizations applied the initiative in the wrong way and used it irresponsibly at best.

The educational YouTube channel Khan Academy made a great in-depth explainer video that goes into detail about credit default swaps if you want to learn more about them.

Leadership and Controversy

Despite a whirlwind of criticism, Masters continued to excel in her endeavors. In 2008, she moved from the trading desk to the commodities department of JP Morgan. During that period, the firm acquired a part of UBS’s UBSN commodity enterprise. Thanks to her various accomplishments, she was appointed as the Chair of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association between 2008 and 2010. Likewise, between 2012 and 2014, Masters chaired the Global Financial Markets Association. She also served as an advisory board member for the US Chamber of Digital Commerce, Figure Technologies, and Maxex.

JP Morgan, under the guidance of Masters, recorded the largest revenue of any investment bank in commodities around 2014. However, despite enjoying laudable success with the organization, Masters’ glittering career in the firm was marred by the sale of JP Morgan’s physical commodities business.

Masters spoke with CNBC during the height of her performance in JP Morgan’s commodities division, explaining how she was so successful if you want to learn more.

In 2014, the firm sold the enterprise for $3.5 billion following an investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The regulator accused JP Morgan of manipulating energy markets in California and Michigan. Consequently, the firm paid more than $410 million to settle the investigation without admitting any wrongdoing. The organization defended Masters, arguing that none of its employees nor the financial expert lied or acted inappropriately regarding the issue, and she was never personally charged. She left the organization after the sale was completed.

Digital Asset Holdings

After drawing the curtain on her 27 years at JP Morgan, Masters joined Digital Asset Holdings and became the CEO in 2015. The organization is based in New York and focuses on distributing technology solutions for the financial service landscape.

Digital Asset Holdings developed distributed ledger systems for the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), among many others. The new organization, with its small structure compared to JP Morgan, enjoyed Blythe Masters’ wealth of experience. As a startup, excelling with the organization proved a daunting task for the Wall Street veteran.

However, Masters ultimately succeeded in leading the organization through massive growth. Masters was widely acknowledged for being the first individual to move from the banking industry to the blockchain technology space. Her years of experience were pivotal in the successful transition of the organization to an international software engineering firm. She oversaw Digital Asset Holding’s acquisition of two blockchain firms, Bit of Proof and Hyperledger.

In December 2015, with just a few months in the organization, various reports indicated that the then-new Barclays CEO, Jes Staley, offered Masters an opportunity to manage the firm’s investment banking division. This would have been an extremely prestigious (and well-paid) position, but Masters rejected the opportunity to focus on the development of DAH.

Remarkably, she leveraged her vast connection in the industry to help Digital Asset Holdings raise funding from fifteen technology and financial organizations, ultimately valuing the company at $100 million. Some of these firms include Citibank, JPMorgan, CME, and Santander Consumer USA Holdings. Meanwhile, in December 2017, ASX officially announced it would upgrade its post-trade settlement system to a blockchain platform designed by Digital Asset Holdings.

Additionally, with the acquisition, Digital Asset Holdings enhanced its market dominance and consequently became a force to reckon with in the industry. Masters was able to build up its workforce from 6 staff to 200 in less than twelve months.

After enjoying outstanding success with DAH, Masters left the firm in December 2018 due to family issues. However, the firm disclosed that her exit doesn’t amount to total dissociation from the organization. In a press statement, the company revealed she would continue to serve the organization as an advisor, board member, and shareholder.

Founding Motive Partners

After leaving Digital Asset Holdings in 2018, Masters joined Motive Partners the following year as the founding partner of the firm. The organization focuses on backing companies building technology for financial services. In her capacity, she sourced and executed various investment activities with a focus on strategy and growth for Motive Portfolio companies.

In November 2019, Motive launched its inaugural fund, known as Motive Capital Fund I (MCFI). Under Masters’ leadership, the organization attracted capital investment for the fund from public pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, alternative asset managers, family offices, endowments, and foundations, ultimately raising $473 million. The investors are spread across various regions, including North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Asia.

Her experience in Wall Street was a major benefit once again as she chaired Motive Ventures; an early-stage investment organ of the firm. At one point, she served as the CEO and board member for Motive Capital Corp. The Motive Capital Corp is a special purpose acquisition corporation sponsored by Motive funds.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Involvement

Blythe Masters is one of the few women who have worked their way up to the forefront of crypto and blockchain development. She has long been a proponent of digital assets and has consistently spoken at length about Bitcoin’s underlying technology.

Blythe Masters wants to upend finance again with new bitcoin technology, the blockchain http://t.co/HvZfcRXSFv pic.twitter.com/SWwUzMMa6f

— Bloomberg (@business) September 6, 2015

Blockchain Advocacy

Masters understands the potential of blockchain technology to revolutionize the traditional financial system. She sees it as a generational opportunity to mutualize database infrastructure across all entities in the financial sector. While this might not seem all that exciting, its incorporation, according to Masters, helps save costs, reduces risks, and facilitates capital-enhancing opportunities.

In recent years, Masters has dedicated much of her time to research the technical nature of blockchain. As a renowned blockchain expert, Masters has graced numerous conferences geared toward discussing the potential of the innovation. In 2016, she was among the keynote speakers at the Spring Institute for International Finance (IIF) conference in Madrid, where she argued that blockchain remains the only answer to the rising cost challenges in the banking sector.

Hyperledger Project

In 2016, Masters was appointed to chair the governing board of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Project. At that time, the foundation was working on the development of automated ledgers through the usage of blockchain. The foundation has 30 founding members.

They include Blockstream, Accenture, Cisco, RedHat, VMWare, Wells Fargo, and even Masters’ former employers, JP Morgan and Digital Asset Holdings. Later, new members were added, such as eVue Digital Labs, Gem, itBit, Milligan Partners, and Montran Labs. As the chair of the board, Masters selected a team of Bitcoin technologists like Craig Young, Chris Ferris, Charles Cascarilla, and a few others to work with her in the development of the project.

“The Hyperledger project is gaining traction on a daily basis, displaying how vital this effort is in advancing distributed ledger technology,” she said. “Uniting the industry to drive this initiative forward is paramount to the success of distributed ledger technology. The Linux Foundation and its members are collaborating on an open-source infrastructure that will increase privacy and scalability, among many other benefits.”

Because of her contributions to the world of blockchain, Masters is considered one of the most influential women in the industry. She is the architect of numerous products that help banks use blockchain tech internally without any added risk. Her support of distributed ledger technology in the financial industry has helped legitimize blockchain as a powerful tool for traditional institutions, paving the way for wider adoption of the tech.

Vision for Financial Technology

Masters’ confidence in the potential of blockchain tech has led her to speak at many different conferences around the world to help others see its value. Just recently, she spoke at the American Banker’s Digital Currencies and Blockchain conference, and as expected, made a strong case for the tech. In her keynote speech, she explained that the first application of blockchain tech will be post-trade processing, before payments, securities, or derivatives solutions.

She also emphasized the potential gained by embracing blockchain, saying, “I believe that [blockchain] technology has the potential to truly change the way the financial world operates, to reduce costs, improve efficiency, reduce risks and ultimately provide better customer service, which ultimately is what financial services need to be all about.”

Blythe Masters’ Crypto Holdings

Masters has kept details about her personal net worth very private, however she did reveal one detail about her holdings with respect to cryptocurrencies. According to UK publication ThisMoney, she is quoted as saying “I do not now and have never owned more than $50,000 cumulatively in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.”

No details are currently available as to whether or not Masters owns any NFT digital assets.

Blythe Masters’ Net Worth – Our Verdict

Blythe Masters certainly did not set out to become a blockchain enthusiast when she first joined the financial industry. She had already established herself in the world of finance and commodities with JP Morgan before ever entering the world of blockchain. However, she had proven to be a pioneering thinker by creating financial products that had previously not existed, namely the credit default swap. For better or worse, she was not afraid to upset the applecart by introducing new products to the world of finance.

Masters’ innovative thinking and interest in emerging technology helped make her transition to the cutting edge of fintech much easier. The world of fintech is driven by innovation and outside the box thinking. The emerging technology of blockchain was a perfect fit for an original thinker who was well equipped to not only achieve, but achieve in a world stereotypically dominated by men. Masters undoubtedly proven her effectiveness with every company she has been involved with.

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