Ken Griffin Net Worth, Crypto and NFT Investments

Born on October 15, 1968, Ken Cordele Griffin is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, investor, and an active figure in the U.S. political space. Griffin is famous as the owner of Citadel LLC and Citadel Securities. According to Forbes, Ken Griffin has an estimated net worth of about $36.5 billion, listing him as the 41st richest person in the world.

On March 19, 2024, Ken Griffin donated $50 million to research and care at the Baptist Health South Florida. The donation will be harnessed to tackle neurodegenerative disorders.

Breakdown of Ken Griffin’s Net Worth, Assets and Investments

His financial exploits landed him a rank of the 21st wealthiest American on the 2022 Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. Notably, Ken Griffin is also famous for his charitable deeds. He was listed on the list of America’s Most Generous Givers by Forbes in 2023. So far, the billionaire has donated up to $1.56 billion to numerous charitable causes.

Before attaining this height, Ken Griffin endured various setbacks but his resilience guided him to a prosperous path. In 2008, he lost about $1 billion, while his company lost $9 billion. However, his 80% stakes in Citadel LLC and Citadel Securities represent the larger source of his wealth. Meanwhile his investment in real estate and artworks also contributed to the course. Ken Griffin holds shares in top companies like Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Apple, and JP Morgan Chase, thereby contributing to his net worth.

Early Life

A background check into his early life revealed that Ken Griffin spent his childhood between Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin. He showed flashes of his brilliance during his High School days when he was the President of the Math at Boca Raton Community High School. From his bedroom at High School, Griffin established and managed a discount mail-order education software firm, EDCOM.

While growing up, the billionaire had the dream of becoming either a businessman or a legal practitioner. This dream was reflected in an article he wrote for the Sun-Sentinel in 1986. In the article, he argued that the demand for computer programmers would plummet drastically over the coming decade.

More so, Griffin began his investment and entrepreneurship conquest while at Harvard College in 1986. Initially, he bagged a $5,000 return from his investment in Home Shopping Network. Additionally, he invested in convertible arbitrage opportunities in convertible bonds. However, the ban on running businesses from Harvard College Campus limited him from running a proper business. Young Ken Griffin took a bold step to convince school administrators to allow him to install a satellite dish on the roof of a dormitory, to receive stock quotes.

Ken Griffin says Monday's flashy-crash is no big deal. He dealt with worse in '87 trading from his dorm room with a satellite dish. https://t.co/HkHi6RTbYJ @AmandaGordon

— Keith Campbell (@kdrcampbell) February 7, 2018

Thereafter, he requested that Terrence J. O’Connor, the manager of convertible bonds at Merrill Lynch in Boston, open a brokerage account for him with $100,000. Griffin raised the funds from his grandmother, his dentist, and some of his friends. A year later, about a few days after his 19th birthday, he launched his first fund with $265,000. In 1989, Griffin graduated with a degree in economics.

Citadel LLC

Shortly after bagging his degree, Ken Griffin relocated to Chicago to work with Frank Meyer, founder of Glenwood Capital Investments. Under Meyer, he continued to prove his genius by growing $1 million by 70% within twelve months. This development surfaced after Frank Meyer set aside $1 million of Glenwood capital for Griffin to trade.

With his experience at Glenwood Capital Investment, Ken Griffin founded Citadel LLC in 1990. Worth mentioning that Citadel LLC is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Investments from Frank Meyer saw the firm had assets worth $4.6 million under his management. Two years in action, Ken Griffin recorded a return of 43% and 40% on these assets in 1991 and 1992 respectively.

Some years later, Griffin founded market maker Citadel Securities. His financial expertise placed him in the limelight at an early age. At age 34 in 2003, Ken Griffin with a net worth of $650 million made it to the Forbes 400 being the youngest person on the list. With a focus on Citadel LLC, in 1998, the hedge fund mandated investors to accept a term that barred them from removing their capital.

With Citadel, Griffin pursued various investment endeavors that helped him gain more wealth. In 2001, Griffin recruited energy traders from Enron shortly after it collapsed. The recruitment strategy focused on establishing a new business that comprised traders, meteorologists, and researchers.

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 affected Ken Griffin’s net worth. He lost $1 billion while Citadel recorded a $9 billion in loss. At the height of this crisis, the firm lost about a hundred of million dollars weekly. During this period, he restricted investors from withdrawing their funds, therefore, attracting widespread backlash. Things turned around for good in 2009 as Griffin earned up to a billion US dollars. Ever since, the firm has gone from strength to strength, netting more than $7.8 billion in 11 years.

In November 2020, according to Bloomberg News, Griffin’s net worth surpassed $20 billion due to an increase in the value of Citadel. Griffin’s stake in the firm was worth $11.2 billion. Presently, his stake in Citadel is worth $9 billion.

Citadel Securities

Citadel Securities was founded in 2002. It is the largest market maker in options in the U.S. It has executed about 25% of the U.S.-listed equity options volume. Presently, the firm is one of the largest market makers in the world. Citadel Securities is in operation in 50 countries across the globe. Also, It is the largest designated market maker on the New York Stock Exchange.

However, Citadel Securities should not be mistaken for Citadel LLC. Though the two were established and are majorly owned by Ken Griffin. Likewise, Ken Griffin’s net worth gained a massive boost from his 80% stake in the former. His stake in Citadel Securities is worth around $17.8 billion.

The growth of the company over the years is evident in the manner in which it has attained numerous heights. According to findings, the firm is responsible for the completion of one-third of stock orders from individual investors. It is worth mentioning that returns from this segment account for about 10% of Citadel Securities’ revenue. Citadel Securities also performs about 13% of U.S. consolidated volume in equities. Also, it is responsible for 28% of U.S. retail equities volume.

Citadel Securities recorded an upturn in its revenue during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. During the first 6 months of the year, the firm netted $4 billion in revenue. By the end of 2022, it recorded a revenue of $7.5 billion, thereby impacting the net worth of Ken Griffin.

Charity and Donation

Ken Griffin’s recent donation of $300 million to Havard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences pushed his lifetime donations to about $1.86 billion. Over time, the Hedge fund magnate has been generous toward his Alma Mater. In 2014, he also donated $150 million to the institution. This isn’t inclusive of the $100 million worth of gifts and pledges from the billionaire to Harvard University on various occasions. In total, Ken Griffin has donated more than half a billion dollars to the institution. Likewise, the University of Chicago is also a beneficiary of his benevolent act, after he donated $125 million to the institution in 2017.

However, his donations haven’t been limited to the academic space alone. Ken Griffin is also prominent as a political donor to the United States Republican Party. His contributions to Republican causes saw Ken Griffen emerge as the fourth-largest billionaire donor during the 2020 election cycle. He contributed about $67 million to campaigns with a major focus on committees supporting Republicans in Congress. Before the 2022 midterm elections, Griffin donated more than $60 million, largely to Republican groups and candidates. His donations in the political space also extend to Democratic Politicians. He donated $500,000 to President Joe Biden’s inaugural committee.

Also, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hedge fund magnate donated more than $7.7 million to provide support to various institutions in their fight against the outbreak. While preparing to relocate his family to Miami from Chicago in 2022, the billionaire donated up to $130 million to various organizations in the city. In South Florida, Griffin also donated an estimated $55 million, which includes a $5 million seed investment in the Miami Disaster Resilience Fund. Recently, Ken Griffin donated $25 million to a Miami hospital that specializes in pediatric care. These are a few to mention among the various charitable deeds and donations of Ken Griffin.

Investment Portfolio

Certainly, the net worth of Ken Griffin has been greatly impacted by his investment portfolio. According to our findings, his portfolio cut across numerous stocks. Top Stocks in his portfolio are Amazon, Tesla, Apple, Meta, JPMorgan Chase, Boston Scientific Corporation, Humana, Salesforce, Broadcom, Microsoft Corporation, and U.S Bancorp.  It is noteworthy that his stake in Amazon through Citadel Investment group is the most valuable of his investment portfolio. Ken Griffin holds 9.25 million shares worth $1.04 billion in the firm which has over time, impacted his net worth.

Griffin holds 8.04 million shares in Meta which is worth about $970 million. The Hedge fund magnate’s investment in Tesla can be traced back to the last quarter of 2010. At the moment, Ken Griffin has 2.7 million shares worth $715.5 million in car manufacturing firm.

Ken Griffin’s Real Estate, Jets and Car Garage

Over time, Griffin has never hidden his love for a luxurious lifestyle. Despite the fact that he is not the wealthiest man around, he bought the most expensive home ever sold in the United States. The Citadel founder reportedly paid a mouthwatering $238 million for the magnificent house, located in New York City. Prior to this development, the apartment purchased by hedge fund manager Barry Rosenstein topped the list of the most expensive apartment sold in the U.S. Rosenstein paid $147 million for the apartment in 2014. But, Griffin’s $238 million apartment has now displaced Rosenstien’s apartment from the top position.

It is worth mentioning that the Citadel CEO and founder also holds the record of the most expensive property ever purchased in Miami. According to our findings, he purchased a pair of penthouses in the city for about $60 million in 2015. In Chicago, Griffin bought the top four floors of a condo building in 2018 for a record $58 million. More so, he owns more than 20 acres of oceanfront property in Florida’s Palm Beach. The billionaire investor purchased the property in a $200 million deal and he is currently building an estate on it.

Just recently, he splashed $100 million on Calvin Klein’s seven-acre oceanfront Hamptons estate. According to multiple sources, Griffin has expended more than $800 million on his real estate assets in notable cities like Chicago, New York, Miami, Palm Beach, Florida and London, U.K and many more.

Apart from his real estate assets, Griffin also owns two private jets. One of the jets is a 2001 Bombardier Global Express private jet valued at $9.5 million. The other one is the 2012 Bombardier Global 6000 model jet, worth $50 million. He is also a proud owner of numerous luxurious cars.

Griffin’s Contributions to the U.S. Political Arena

It is worth mentioning that Ken Griffin is one of the most influential investor in the U.S. politics. In recent years, the billionaire spent his fortunes supporting various political causes and individual candidates with the same views as him. According to multiple sources, he donated not less than $1 million towards the advancement of a political cause in 2010. Also in 2020, Griffin was reported to have invested over $67 million in fostering the realization of several political agendas.

Similarly, the Citadel’s CEO has also been notable for giving financial assistance to individual political candidates, particularly from Republican Party. Recent data from a renowned campaign finance watchdog, OpenSecrets identified Griffin as the biggest single individual donor from the finance industry in the party. According to our findings, he has offered more financial support to members of the party contesting for federal positions. In the last election cycle, he ranked third among the biggest political donors to federal political candidates, giving out over $50 million.

Apart from supporting federal candidates, Griffin has also shown appreciable commitment to aiding gubernatorial candidates of the party. In 2021, the billionaire investor supported the failed gubernatorial ambition of Mayor Richard Irvin. The latter could not emerge as the flag bearer of the Republican Party. He also offered $5 million in support to a Political Action Committee (PAC) of Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida. Similarly, he donated about $7.5 million to support the gubernatorial bid of David McCormick in Pennsylvania. Although, McCormick did not emerge in the end.

The aforementioned and many more indicate that the Citadel CEO has built and sustained a career as a political donor. A few months ago, his spokesperson, Zia Ahmed justified Griffin’s investments in the political arena. According to Ahmed, the billionaire CEO seeks to provide enablement for talented political candidates to thrive without financial restraint. The spokesperson said Griffin usually offers his financial assistance only to candidates of the party who will not jettison education, job safety, public safety and many more.

In one of his interviews in early 2022, Griffin urged business leaders in the country to join the political arena. He was quoted saying, “they have to be engaged because they understand the ramification of policy decisions: I’m building a business; I’m running a factory; I’m creating jobs. They just can’t continue to be silent.”

Meanwhile, Griffin has in recent times, endured sheer criticisms, particularly by Democrat leaders and admirers over his firm support for Republican candidates. A few years ago, the Democratic Governors Association, backing Democrats initiated a controversial investigation on Griffin. At that time, the Citadel CEO was making consultations on the candidate to support for the Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary. Then, the group titled the research, “Ken Griffin Has Been Playing Kingmaker In IL Politics With No Consequences.” Our review of the research shows that it featured several documents to push the probe of Griffin’s expenses in the political space.

Despite all the efforts to discourage his support for Republican candidates, the billionaire investor has remained steadfast and undeterred. However, he has reservations on the personality of Donald Trump, the then President of the country and the Presidential flag bearer of the Republican Party in 2020. On numerous occasions, Griffin had dragged the former president for claiming the last presidential election was rigged in favour of Joe Biden. He believes such a claim is unsubstantiated and untrue.

Crypto Holdings or Investments of Ken Griffin

As of the time of writing, no credible source could confirm if Ken Griffin holds any personal crypto portfolio. But, his firms, Citadel Securities and George Soros’ investment fund have exposures to cryptocurrencies. In early 2023, both firms through their Form 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reported their crypto-related investments in the Q4 of 2022. Citadel said it holds a 5.5% stake in the popular crypto lending firm, Silvergate. It is worth mentioning that the shares of the lender spiked by at least 14% after the disclosure.

Meanwhile, George Soros in its filing, said it purchased convertible debentures from Marathon Digital (MARA), a crypto mining company for $40 million. The Griffin firm also reported exposure to Silvergate after it bought “put options” from the lender. Additionally, it invested in MicroStrategy (MSTR). According to the filing, its exposure with MicroStrategy is triggered by its purchase of 50,000 call and put options in the firm. Recall that MicroStrategy is one of the largest holders of BTC. While it is impossible to ascertain if Griffin had personally invested in cryptocurrencies, we rely on the indirect investments by his firms to conclude that he is one of the notable Bitcoin investors in the industry.

Ken Griffin’s Net Worth – Our Verdict

We have been able to establish the net worth of Ken Griffin for this year. Our assessment shows that he is an influential investor in top stocks. Some of the stocks in his portfolio include Amazon, Tesla, Apple, Meta, JPMorgan Chase, Boston Scientific Corporation, Humana, Salesforce, Broadcom, Microsoft Corporation, and U.S Bancorp. While it is noteworthy that Griffin might not have personally invested in cryptocurrencies, his firms, particularly Citadel Securities have exposure to crypto firms. Certainly, investments in these projects have significantly impacted the current net worth of Ken Griffin.

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