Kevin Maloney, CEO of iTrustCapital was named an EY US Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Pacific Southwest Award winner. Kevin was selected among nearly 1,000 program participants that included 592 finalists across 17 regions competing for the title.
Kevin Maloney brings nearly three decades of start-up and traditional finance experience across institutional investment management, compliance, business development, and capital markets roles, including positions at Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) and First American Financial’s (FAF) Trust Company subsidiary. Kevin joined iTrustCapital in 2021 as SVP of Corporate Development and Capital Markets. In that role, he quickly made a meaningful impact, leading the company’s Series A growth equity raise of $130 million at a $1.3 billion valuation. His ability to execute, build trust and a shared vision across the organization, and help bridge the gap between traditional finance with the emerging digital asset economy led to his appointment as Chief Strategy Officer and, later, Chief Executive Officer.
“Being named EY US Entrepreneur Of The Year is an incredible honor. I’m grateful to EY, the judges and, most importantly, the iTrustCapital team, whose dedication has made this recognition possible. We built iTrustCapital to help more people access alternative assets in a more secure and simple way, and I’m proud of the impact we’ve made as we continue creating better financial tools for investors. This award is another indication of the great success we have had and further validates the need for transparent, people-first approaches designed to bring alternative assets to new audiences.”
Now in its 41st year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. It celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or raised outside capital to grow their company, transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to strengthen it for the future.
Regional winners were chosen by an independent panel of past winners, top CEOs and business leaders. Judges assessed candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment, and significant growth and impact.
As a Pacific Southwest award winner, Kevin will now be considered by the national judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, where high-growth CEOs, Fortune 1000 executives and investors converge to shape the future of business. The National Overall Award winner will move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in May 2027.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized the leadership of entrepreneurs such as:
| Jason McGowan, Crumbl CookiesReid Hoffman & Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn Corp.Saeju Jeong, NoomAllison Ellsworth & Stephen Ellsworth, PoppiJitendra Mohan, Sanjay Gajendra & Casey Morrison, Astera Labs | Shelly Ibach, Sleep NumberHoward Schultz, Starbucks Coffee CompanyHolly Thaggard & Amanda Baldwin, Supergoop!Jodi L. Berg, Vita-Mix CorporationMichael Happe, Winnebago IndustriesArthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons, The Home Depot, Georgia Force |
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, LLC, Marsh Risk, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Pacific Southwest region, sponsors also include Platinum sponsor: Vaco; Gold sponsors: ADP, Big Picture, Cooley (San Diego market) and Stradling (Orange County market) and Silver sponsor: Pierpont Communications (Arizona market).