Ken Griffin Deploys More Than $1 Billion On Florida Real Estate After Leaving Chicago

How finished with Chicago – and how optimistic on Florida – is Citadel’s Ken Griffin? He’s $1 billion sure. 

Griffin has already spent over $1 billion on real estate recently, but CNBC noted on Friday that he was putting even more cash to work in Florida.

CNBC was on location  in Florida noting two properties – one for $75 million and another for $100 million. He spent about $175 million on 5 acres on Star Island near Miami Beach.

Meanwhile, Citadel has spent over $600 million on a new vacant lot in Florida, the report says, where it is going to be placing its new headquarters. It’ll also be building apartments and temporary office space. 

He’s also spent $450 million “just on land” to build a new home north of Palm Beach. CNBC noted that the land is bigger than Mar-A-Lago.

Altogether, Griffin and Citadel have spent more than $1 billion on Florida real estate. Griffin has said he likes to buy “iconic” and “rare” properties that his family can live in for years. He also told CNBC they are going to break ground in late 2023/early 2024. CNBC says the location and the new headquarters could turn into a “competitive advantage” for hiring new talent.

“He’s really doubling down” on Florida, one CNBC contributor said. 

Recall, we noted when Griffin decided to move from Chicago to Miami. 

In a letter to employees sent earlier this summer, Griffin said he had personally moved to Florida and that his market-making business, Citadel Securities, would also transfer. He wrote he views Florida as a better corporate environment and though he didn’t specifically cite crime as a factor, company officials said it was a consideration, the WSJ reported. Which reminds us: where is the Netflix special on inner city black-on-black crime in general, and Chicago’s weekly murder spree in particular? Oh, it’s not there… what a shocker.

The relocation will affect both hedge fund Citadel and Citadel Securities, the market making business, firm spokesman Zia Ahmed said Thursday according to Bloomberg, and marks the first step in a multi-year process that will involve the firm building a new office in Miami, which will serve as its global headquarters, and where a few hundred people will be based as soon as next year.

“Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois,” Griffin wrote, before explaining that the ties will not be that deep. “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.”

Griffin, 53, said just last month that he was reaching a tipping point with Chicago. The hedge fund and market maker, both of which he founded, combined employ more than 1,000 people in the city and pay hundreds of millions in taxes to liberal mecca that will now find itself in even more dire financial straits.