Kenneth C. Griffin

Kenneth C. Griffin is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Citadel, one of the world’s leading alternative investment firms. Ken is also the Founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Citadel Securities, one of the world’s preeminent market makers. A passionate philanthropist, Ken has donated more than $2 billion to advance education, opportunity, and health sciences initiatives that significantly transform people’s lives.

Intrigued by finance from a young age, Ken began investing in 1986 from his Harvard dorm room. The following year, he launched a small hedge fund that utilized emerging quantitative analytics to inform investment decision-making. In 1990, a year after graduating, he founded Citadel.

Ken founded Citadel on the belief that extraordinary individuals, equipped with advanced quantitative analytics and powerful software, could unlock opportunities in the world’s capital markets. A commitment to continuous learning, problem-solving, and meritocracy defines the firm’s culture. Citadel is routinely ranked among the best places to work, and the firm’s focus on advancing the careers of its team members is renowned on Wall Street.

Today, Citadel’s team of more than 2,500 professionals manages over $60 billion in investment capital. Citadel is recognized as one of the world’s most profitable hedge funds. The Citadel team has delivered extraordinary results for pension plans, university endowments, hospital systems, foundations, and research institutions that deliver meaningful impact for society, from curing cancer with immunotherapy to making scientific breakthroughs in particle physics.

In 2002, Ken and his partners established Citadel Securities as a market maker in the United States capital markets. Today, Citadel Securities is one of the world’s largest liquidity providers, serving more than 1,600 institutional clients, including many of the world’s largest central banks and sovereign wealth funds. Citadel Securities is recognized as a market leader in empowering clients to reach their investment goals and has proved transformative in enhancing competition in capital markets worldwide.

Ken’s decades of philanthropic involvement reflect the same strategic mindset that has contributed to his business success. Now advanced through Griffin Catalyst, Ken’s contributions have expanded access to education at all levels for millions of Americans, transformed research and medical institutions with historic gifts, and strengthened our cultural institutions. Ken’s insights were instrumental in the launch of Operation Warp Speed’s accelerated COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment strategies.

Ken holds an A.B. ’89 with Honors in Economics from Harvard College.