Dan Ives, one of Wall Street’s most recognizable names, has been the global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities since 2018. An expert in his field, Ives has been a prominent media presence on networks like CNBC, Bloomberg, and CNN.

The Smeal College of Business served as Ives’ first stepping stone into his wildly successful career, initially moving him to State College from Long Island.

“The first time I went to State College in 1991, I fell in love with it,” Ives said. “I kind of knew my first time coming there that would be the school I would go to. It is probably one of, if not the, best decisions of my life.”

Ives majored in finance in the Smeal College of Business, but his interests always spanned multiple areas. He noted that Penn State’s wide variety of classes allowed him to get a great overall education.

“At a school like Penn State, I was able to get a very global education in terms of all the classes that I would take,” Ives said. “I’d say that a big part of my success was the foundation that I created at Penn State.”

Another aspect of Penn State Ives praises is its extensive alumni network. Although there are other big schools like Penn State, Ives recognizes that it is a unique dynamic.

“The alumni network at Penn State is unrivaled, and that opened doors for me over my career that have been very important,” he said.

After Penn State, Ives first started out at HBO in corporate finance in New York City. He did that for a few years and then returned to school for his MBA in finance at Maryland.

Following that, Ives spent a few years in the ’90s working for FBR, which gave him his beginning in tech stocks as an analyst, ultimately leading him to Wall Street, where he’s covered tech stocks for 25 years.

“The seeds of all that was Penn State. Nothing would have happened without it,” Ives said.

Despite his unique fashion that gave him the “best dressed man on Wall Street” name by the New York Post in 2024, Ives never expected to become a TV personality. Now, during his TV appearances, he often taps into his unique fashion sense stemming back from his Long Island roots.

“As I started to do more TV and get more well known, along with the fashion, people start to better understand you and what you stand for, and a kind of brand was created, but it was never that intention,” Ives said.

Early on, he was one of the first to identify just how big the iPhone was going to be, and then later, Elon Musk and Tesla.

Even with these two big wins, making his career grow bigger than expected, Ives noted that he always stayed true to his humble beginnings.

“I’ve met many people in my life where they think they’re the smartest person in the world. I never thought that,” Ives said. “I always kind of went about things very similar to the way I went about things when I lived at Penn State.”

As a Smeal graduate, he is a big supporter of the college to this day. He and his wife, Robyn, who met in Smeal, created the Dan and Robyn Ives AI Innovation Initiatives Fund and donated $100,000 to give students learning opportunities focused on AI.

“I feel like that is really where a lot of the future is going,” Ives said. “That is the start of a much broader initiative around Smeal, as well as Penn State, establishing itself as one of the leaders of AI in this country. I’m a big fan of passing things down, and that was a big reason why we wanted to do that.”

When it comes to advice for young students hoping to follow in his footsteps, he warns people not to fear rejection.

“It’s a journey, not a sprint. I never defined my success by money or accolades or things like that,” Ives said. “It’s more that success is about making an impact and waking up every day and liking your job.”

He is a big advocate for choosing a career path that you truly love, not just something you choose for guaranteed money or success. To current Penn State students, Ives hopes they thoroughly enjoy their time there and everything unique the university has to offer.

“Go outside your comfort level, join other things that you wouldn’t normally do, meet people from all around the world,” Ives said. “I think that’s what makes Penn State so special. It’s what’s unique about it, and I think it creates the foundation for your future.”