Ken Griffin's Citadel Readies For Construction Of Miami Headquarters: Why The Hedge Fund Billionaire Is Taking His Talents To Florida (CORRECTED)

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Ken Griffin’s name in the headline.

Many business leaders opted to move their headquarters to Florida during the COVID-19 outbreak, but the trend appears to be persisting beyond the pandemic. Ken Griffin, the head of the hedge fund Citadel, announced two years ago that he would move the firm's headquarters to Miami. Now, the plan is coming to fruition. 

Griffin plans to make Miami "Wall Street South" according to the Wall Street Journal. Citadel's new headquarters, designed by the architectural firm Foster + Partners, is supposed to be one of the tallest buildings in the city. 

The new headquarters is set to begin construction in Brickell, the financial district and upscale neighborhood in Miami. Griffin also plans to move Citadel Securities, one of the largest market makers in the world, into the Citadel's new headquarters. 

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Griffin's decision to move Citadel's headquarters from Chicago to Miami has even drawn comparisons to LeBron James' famous decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat in 2010.

"Ken Griffin has been the highest profile transplant to Miami since LeBron James," Nitin Motwani, managing partner of Merrimac Ventures, told the Journal.

Once Citadel's Miami headquarters is completed, the city will be able to boast that it's home to the world’s most successful hedge fund. Citadel's $16 billion gain in 2022 cemented the firm as the top-earning hedge fund of all time, according to Forbes.

And running the most successful hedge fund can be quite a lucrative gig. According to reports from Business Insider, Griffin took home earnings of more than $4 billion in 2022.

Griffin is bullish on the future of Miami and believes that the city could overtake New York City as the financial capital of the world, according to The Hill. Many worldwide financial institutions have offices or headquarters in Florida, including Point 72, RBC Capital Markets, and Thoma Bravo. 

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