Ken Griffin net worth
Trent Alan / Midjourney AI

What is the Ken Griffin’s net worth? Before we get to that, let’s explain who he is, for those of you that might not know.

Kenneth Cordele Griffin, commonly known as Ken Griffin, is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist.

He is the founder and CEO of Citadel LLC, a global investment firm and one of the world’s leading hedge funds. Griffin is #35 on Forbes’ Billionaires list of the wealthiest people in the world.

Born in 1968 in Daytona Beach, Florida, Griffin has become a prominent figure in the world of finance, known for his strategic investments, risk-taking, and the Gamestop controversy that took place in 2021.

What is Ken Griffin’s Net Worth?

As the founder and CEO of Citadel LLC, Ken Griffin’s net worth is estimated to be between $28 to $35 billion USD according to various sources.

Following comprehensive research at Business2Community, we estimate his net worth at $32.45 billion as of April 2023.

In this article, we examine the sources of his immense wealth and the milestones and setbacks that have shaped his career.

Ken Griffin Net Worth – $32.45 billion

Ken Griffin Net Worth Breakdown – $32.45 billion

Source of Wealth Amount (Approx.)
Citadel LLC (80% Ownership) $9 billion
Citadel Securities (80% Ownership) $17.6 billion
Annual Income (2022) $4.1 billion
Real Estate $750 million
Art Collection $1 billion
Total Net Worth $32.45 billion

Citadel LLC: The Heart of Ken Griffin Net Worth – $9 billion

Citadel LLC accounts for a significant portion of Griffin’s net worth. He has about $9 billion in personal assets within Citadel funds. This estimation is derived from a 2022 Form ADV filing, ratings reports, an assessment of his earnings from previous years, and conversations between Bloomberg and an individual familiar with the matter who chose to remain anonymous.

With nearly $63 billion in assets under management, Citadel has become a titan in the financial world, offering core strategies in fixed high-income and macro, quantitative strategies, commodities, equities, and credit.

Top 5 Citadel Holdings (as of December 31, 2022)

Rank Company Portfolio % Shares Owned Value Change in Shares Avg. Buy Price

PriceChange

(04.07.2023)
1 META, Meta Platforms Inc 1.12% 8.04M $967.42M +5.61M (231.34%) $172.93 +24.96%
2 TSLA, Tesla Inc 1.07% 7.52M $926.22M +4.82M (178.75%) $211.46 -16.77%
3 AAPL, Apple Inc 0.93% 6.16M $800.06M +1.26M (25.69%) $35.72 +360.97%
4 ADBE, Adobe Systems Inc 0.61% 1.58M $530.06M +772.86k (96.33%) $149.28 +154.95%
5 CAT, Caterpillar Inc 0.60% 2.17M $519.36M +2.07M (2038.18%) $175.03 +19.5%

Citadel Securities: A Wall Street Powerhouse – $17.6 billion

Additionally, Griffin founded Citadel Securities in the early 2000s, retaining an 80% stake in the company. As one of the largest market-making firms on Wall Street, it handles one in every five stock trades in the United States. With a valuation of $22 billion in 2022, Citadel Securities operates as an independent entity, distinct from the hedge fund Citadel LLC.

Annual Income: Griffin’s Record-Shattering Payday – $4.1 billion

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin set an astonishing record in 2022, taking home an incredible$4.1 billion in earnings, which not only made him the highest earner among hedge-fund managers last year but also marked the largest amount ever recorded in the history of the rankings, as reported by Institutional Investor’s 22nd annual Rich List.

Real Estate Riches: Ken Griffin’s Property Empire – $750 million

Ken Griffin’s net worth wouldn’t be complete without mentioning his penchant for high-priced real estate. With properties in Chicago, New York, Miami, Palm Beach, and London, Griffin has spent over $750 million on real estate since 2013.

Griffin’s net worth might not rival that of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos or Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who both boast net worths well over $100 billion each. Yet, he surpasses these wealthy giants in one regard: according to The Wall Street Journal, he owns the priciest residence ever purchased in the U.S., a $238 million penthouse overlooking Central Park in New York City, acquired in 2019.

His most recent acquisition is Calvin Klein’s seven-acre oceanfront estate in the Hamptons, valued at $100 million.

The Art Collection: A Billion-Dollar Affair – $1 billion

Ken Griffin’s net worth is further enriched by his impressive art collection, which is now valued at over $1 billion. His collection includes works by Jackson Pollock, Paul Cézanne, Jasper Johns, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, and many others.

Griffin is known to spend substantial sums on prominent artworks. In 2020, he acquired Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump for $100 million and promptly showcased it at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he has been a longstanding trustee.

Of his long-term dedication to supporting the arts, Griffin has said, “The arts are the soul of our city. I believe that each of us experiencing the arts has an opportunity for personal growth.”

Trading Places: Griffin’s Journey from Student to Billionaire

Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1968, Ken Griffin spent his childhood in Boca Raton, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin. His father, a building supplies executive, was a project manager for General Electric, an American multinational conglomerate.

Griffin is the grandson of Genevieve Huebsch Gratz, who inherited an oil business, three farms, and a seed enterprise.

Early Ambitions: The Birth of EDCOM and Trading in the Dorms

During high school, Griffin aspired to become a businessman or lawyer. At the age of 17, he ran a discount mail-order education software firm out of his bedroom called EDCOM.

Later, Griffin began his trading journey while attending Harvard University. Despite a ban on running businesses from campus, Griffin convinced school administrators to allow him to install a satellite dish on the roof of the Cabot House dormitory to receive stock quotes.

After completing his education, he joined Frank Meyer, the founder of Glenwood Capital Investments in Chicago. Meyer entrusted Griffin with $1 million for trading, and within a year, Griffin achieved a 70% return on investment.

Citadel’s Rise: From Inception to Financial Powerhouse

A year later, his success continued with the launch of Citadel LLC in 1990, which grew into a financial powerhouse throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

In 2008, the financial crisis hit Ken Griffin’s net worth hard, with the billionaire losing over $1 billion and Citadel losing $8 billion. Nevertheless, he managed to recover and rebuild Citadel to remain as one of the top hedge funds in the world.

In 2022, hedge funds experienced their worst year for returns since 2008, with a 6.5% loss, as reported by Reuters. Despite this trend, Citadel achieved its best annual performance ever in 2022, with $16 billion in profits and $62.3 billion in assets under management.

The GameStop Saga and Citadel’s Involvement

Despite his immense financial success, Griffin’s life hasn’t been without controversy. Citadel faced wide criticism from retail investors on social media due to its association with the GameStop short squeeze incident in 2021.

In January 2021, GameStop’s stock skyrocketed nearly 2,000% to record highs, reaching $483 USD per share, resulting from a massive short squeeze that greatly impacted short sellers. At that time, about 140% of GameStop’s outstanding shares were sold short.

The short squeeze was fueled by a socially-driven investing movement initiated by retail investors through Reddit forums, eventually becoming the focus of a Netflix documentary titled Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga.

During this period, Melvin Capital, a major hedge fund with a significant short position in GameStop, suffered billion-dollar losses due to the stock’s surge. Citadel became involved when it invested $2 billion in Melvin Capital amidst the short squeeze.

Additionally, Citadel Securities found itself at the center of a contentious debate surrounding payment-for-order-flow practices involving the commission-free brokerage, Robinhood. When Robinhood abruptly limited GameStop share trading to sell orders only, causing the stock price to plummet, numerous users on the platform suspected that Citadel Securities had played a role in influencing this decision.

In response, the market maker issued a statement denying the allegations, calling it an “absurd story.”

Both parties were later involved in a hearing by the House Financial Services Committee, during which Griffin denied any wrongdoing. In November 2021, a U.S. District Court dismissed a class action lawsuit against Robinhood and Citadel, concluding that there was no evidence of collusion.

Ken Griffin’s net worth, currently standing at an impressive $32.45 billion, is the culmination of decades of strategic investments and a keen eye for opportunities. With Citadel continuing to remain one of the most profitable asset management firms in operation today, Ken Griffin has cemented himself as an influential figure within the finance sector and is likely to remain so for years to come.