Billionaire Ken Griffin Moving Hedge Fund Citadel HQ Out Of Chicago

CHICAGO — Ken Griffin, the wealthiest resident in Illinois, is pulling the headquarters of his hedge company out of Chicago, citing the desire of many employees to move away from the city and relocate to Florida.

Griffin announced the move of Citadel to Miami Thursday in a memo to employees. The $51 million hedge fund company is the latest large company to leave Chicago, joining Boeing and Caterpillar.

In the memo, Griffin, 53, told employees that he is excited to move the company to Miami, which he called a city “so rich in diversity and abounding in energy,” Griffin wrote.

“Miami is a vibrant, growing metropolis that embodies the American Dream,” he wrote.

Citadel has about 1,000 employees working in Chicago, where Griffin said Thursday that the company will maintain an office. Griffin has an estimated worth of $25 billion and has donated large financial contributions to several Chicago cultural institutions including the Art Institute and the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Science and Industry.

Griffin has also provided financial backing to several Republican politicians, including GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin and has publicly criticized Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Griffin has also bemoaned Chicago’s issues with violent crime and has said that the city’s violence could factor into a decision to move Citadel out of the city.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the decision disappointing.

"Citadel leadership has been signaling for some time an enhanced presence in Florida and while this announcement is not surprising, it is disappointing," the statement said. "We thank the Citadel team for their contributions to our city and their many philanthropic commitments, particularly around education, arts and culture, and public safety.

"We know Citadel will maintain a significant presence in Chicago and their story would not be possible without the great strengths of our city."

The move to Miami is scheduled to take several years and comes a day after city officials announced that Kellogg’s would be moving a portion of its business operation to Chicago. Griffin also said that his trading firm, Citadel Securities, will also be leaving.

"Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois," Griffin said in his memo to employees. "Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York, and our other offices around the world."

While Griffin has cited employees' desire to move to Florida, as he and his family recently did, his political disagreements with Pritzker and other state leaders have factored into Thursday’s decision.

"We have our work cut out for us because we have a government in our state that continually puts votes in front of people, votes in front of lives, votes in front of schools," Griffin said in a speech this year at the Economic Club of Chicago. "We need to start to take the state back inch by inch from people that put their politics first and put our people second."