Cathie Wood’s Flagship ETF Eliminates DraftKings Stake

The ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK), the flagship exchange traded fund (ETF) of Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management, no longer holds shares of DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG).

The gaming stock was one of nearly a dozen positions eliminated or reduced in the first half of 2026 across ARKK and a pair of the asset manager’s other ETFs as the firm upped its exposure to artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor and space stocks.

The $7.26 billion ARKK and two other ARK Invest funds were among the earliest ETF adopters of DraftKings stock as Wood’s firm embraced the stock in early 2021, soon after its initial public offering (IPO). At various points over DraftKings’ time as a public company, ARK was close to the top 10 institutional shareholders of the gaming stock.

ARK, which started buying DraftKings stock in February 2021, primarily issues actively managed ETFs — a status that applies to ARKK, meaning it’s possible the sports betting equity could rejoin that ETF in the future.

ARKK Has Plenty of Prediction Market Exposure

Fund managers aren’t legally obligated to disclose why they buy and sell specific stocks, though some are known to “talk their books.” Specific to ARK Invest and DraftKings, the Florida-based money manager hasn’t commented on why DraftKings is no longer part of its largest ETF.

Depending upon one’s view of what does and does not constitute wagering, ARKK maintains exposure to the world of betting by way of prediction markets. For example, Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) and Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) are top 10 holdings in that ETF.

Additionally, ARK is a Kalshi investor, having participated in two of that prediction market operator’s recent funding rounds. Kalshi is closely held, but it’s a member of the ARK Venture Fund’s roster. That’s an actively managed closed-end that invests in both private and public companies. Kalshi is among its top 10 holdings.

Previous ARK commentary and research confirms the fund issuer is bullish on prediction markets, but the firm hasn’t waxed bearish on sports betting. Plus, DraftKings is an increasingly prominent participant in the prediction market space.

DraftKings Still in Some ARK ETFs

Nearly 150 ETFs own shares of DraftKings, according to ETF Research Center data. As noted above, ARKK isn’t one of them, but two other ARK ETFs still hold shares of the betting stock.

Entering today, the $1.81 billion ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE: ARKW) allocated 1% of its roster to DraftKings while the ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKF) had an almost 2% stake in the gaming stock.

Like ARKK, those ETFs are actively managed so there’s flexibility to decrease or increase exposure to DraftKings (and any other stock) as the fund managers see fit.