Kenneth Cordele Griffin (born October 15, 1968) is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and investor. He is the founder, chief executive officer, co-chief investment officer, and majority owner (80%) of Citadel LLC, a global hedge fund. Griffin also owns Citadel Securities, one of the largest market-making firms in the United States.
As of April 2023, Griffin's estimated net worth was $35 billion, ranking him as the 38th-wealthiest person in the world and 21st on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans in 2022. Forbes included him in its 2023 list of the United States' Most Generous Givers, citing charitable donations totaling $1.56 billion, primarily supporting education, economic mobility, and medical research.
Griffin is also a prominent political donor, having contributed tens of millions of dollars to candidates and causes, primarily aligned with Republican and conservative ideologies.
Early Life and Education
Kenneth Griffin was born in 1968 in Daytona Beach, Florida, to a father who worked as a building supplies executive and project manager for General Electric. His grandmother, Genevieve Huebsch Gratz, inherited an oil business, three farms, and a seed company.
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| Born | October 15, 1968 Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) |
| Occupations | Hedge fund manager Entrepreneur Investor |
| Known for | Founder of Citadel LLC and Citadel Securities |
| Spouse | Katherine Weingartt (m. 1991; div. 1996) Anne Dias |
| Title | CEO and co-CIO, Citadel LLC |
| Children | 3 |
Griffin was raised primarily in Boca Raton, Florida, with some time spent in Texas and Wisconsin. He attended Boca Raton Community High School, where he served as president of the math club. During high school, he operated a discount mail-order education software business, EDCOM, from his bedroom. In a 1986 interview with the Sun-Sentinel, he expressed aspirations to become either a businessman or lawyer and predicted a decline in demand for computer programmers.
Griffin enrolled at Harvard College in 1986. One of his earliest investments was purchasing put options on Home Shopping Network, yielding a $5,000 profit. He later explored convertible arbitrage strategies involving convertible bonds. Despite campus restrictions on operating businesses, Griffin obtained permission to install a satellite dish on the roof of Cabot House to access real-time stock quotes. He secured a $100,000 brokerage account with Merrill Lynch, funded by capital from his grandmother, dentist, and other connections.
At age 19, Griffin launched his first hedge fund with $265,000, just before the 1987 market crash, profiting from short positions during Black Monday. He graduated from Harvard University in 1989 with a degree in economics.
Career
After graduating in 1989, Kenneth Griffin moved to Chicago and began working with Frank Meyer, the founder of Glenwood Capital Investments. Meyer allocated $1 million for Griffin to trade, and Griffin generated a 70% return within a year.
In 1990, Griffin established Citadel LLC with $4.6 million in assets under management, including contributions from Meyer. His funds yielded impressive returns, achieving 43% in 1991 and 40% in 1992.
During the early 2000s, Griffin expanded his business ventures by founding Citadel Securities, a market-making firm.
By 2003, at the age of 34, Griffin was the youngest person to appear on the Forbes 400 list, with a net worth estimated at $650 million. That same year, he married Anne Dias and became the lead investor in her hedge fund, Aragon Global Management, which also received funding from Julian Robertson. However, the fund underperformed, leading to a 20% loss on Griffin's investment.
In 2006, Citadel acquired distressed positions from Amaranth Advisors at a significant discount.
During the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Citadel faced significant challenges, with its largest funds dropping 55% at the peak. The firm was highly leveraged, operating at a 7:1 ratio, and reportedly losing hundreds of millions weekly. Griffin restricted investors from withdrawing their capital for ten months, drawing criticism. However, Citadel rebounded with a 62% return in 2009.
Griffin's earnings from Citadel LLC have been substantial, including $900 million in 2009, $1.4 billion in 2014, $600 million in 2016, $1.4 billion in 2017, $870 million in 2018, $1.5 billion in 2019, and $1.8 billion in 2020.
In November 2020, his net worth exceeded $20 billion, driven by Citadel’s increased valuation. His stake in the firm alone was valued at $11.2 billion. Citadel Securities also saw a profit surge, earning $2.36 billion in the first half of 2020, nearly doubling its $982 million profit from the same period in 2019, partly due to increased market volatility and retail trading activity.
In January 2021, Griffin faced criticism for Citadel's involvement in the GameStop short squeeze. Citadel invested $2 billion into Melvin Capital, which had suffered substantial losses exceeding 30% due to short positions, particularly in GameStop. Shortly after, Robinhood, a trading platform that relied heavily on payment for order flow from Citadel, restricted purchases of GameStop securities while allowing sales, causing the stock price to plummet. This sparked allegations of a conflict of interest, as Citadel acted both as a market maker and a market participant.
On February 18, 2021, Griffin testified before the House Financial Services Committee regarding his role in the GameStop incident. His political connections were also scrutinized, as he had made direct donations to four committee members: French Hill, Andy Barr, Ann Wagner, and Bill Huizenga.
Philanthropy
Kenneth Griffin has donated over $2 billion to charities and nonprofit organizations. In September 2023, he established Griffin Catalyst, a platform to coordinate his philanthropic and civic activities. The organization serves as an umbrella for his various charitable efforts.
Education
Griffin has collaborated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support charter schools and fund tutoring initiatives in the U.S.
In 2011, he partnered with University of Chicago economist John A. List to explore whether investments in teachers or parents yield better student performance outcomes.
In 2014, Griffin donated $150 million to Harvard University, his alma mater, for financial aid, marking the largest single donation ever made to the institution at the time. He later joined the University of Chicago's board of trustees and served as vice chairman of the Chicago Public Education Fund.
Griffin also contributed $1 million to the Obama Foundation in 2017 and donated $125 million to the University of Chicago’s Department of Economics, which was subsequently renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics.
In 2021, he donated $5 million to provide internet access for students in Miami and gave $21.5 million to the Field Museum of Natural History for its dinosaur exhibit, which was renamed the Griffin Dinosaur Experience.
Museums and Public Institutions
Griffin has made significant contributions to museums and public institutions. In October 2019, he donated $125 million to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, leading to its renaming as the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
In November 2021, Griffin purchased the last privately owned copy of the U.S. Constitution at auction for $43.2 million, outbidding a crypto collective. He stated his intention to display the document in public spaces, starting with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.
In March 2022, he donated $40 million to the American Museum of Natural History in New York for its 230,000-square-foot renovation.
Regional Contributions and STEM Support
Before relocating Citadel’s headquarters to Florida, Griffin donated $130 million to Chicago-based nonprofits in 2022. That same year, he contributed $250,000 to a Miami scholarship program for STEM students.
Alongside the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Walton Family Foundation, Griffin funded the Education Recovery Scorecard, a comprehensive analysis of pandemic-related learning losses based on national and local test data.
In April 2023, Griffin made a $300 million donation to Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, resulting in the renaming of Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in his honor. Shortly after, he donated $25 million to Success Academy Charter Schools, New York City's largest charter school network, and $20 million to Miami Dade College, where he also addressed the 2023 graduating class.
References
- (No date) Bloomberg.com. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-11/griffin-fortune-soars-to-28-billion-on-citadel-securities-deal (Accessed: 09 January 2025).
- Jr., R.C.J. (no date) Businessman and philanthropist Kenneth C. Griffin celebrated for his landmark $50 million gift to sylvester, University of Miami News and Events. Available at: https://news.miami.edu/stories/2024/03/businessman-and-philanthropist-kenneth-c-griffin-celebrated-for-his-landmark-50-million-gift-to-sylvester.html (Accessed: 09 January 2025).
- Kenneth C. Griffin ’89: Investor and philanthropist: News: The Harvard Crimson (no date) News | The Harvard Crimson. Available at: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/5/29/griffin-investor-philanthropist/ (Accessed: 09 January 2025).
- Villa, A. (2021) Billionaire Citadel founder Kenneth Griffin is buyer of $43 m. U.S. Constitution Copy, ARTnews.com. Available at: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/kenneth-griffin-us-constitution-copy-buyer-auction-1234610905/ (Accessed: 09 January 2025).
