Billionaire treats 1,200 employees plus families to Tokyo Disney trip for company anniversaries
Maroon 5, Calvin Harris provided entertainment to Ken Griffin's Citadel employees
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Citadel and Citadel Securities workers from their Asia-Pacific offices got to hit up Tokyo Disney with their loved ones on billionaire founder Ken Griffin’s dime as they commemorated a pair of recent milestones that the respective firms reached.
The 1,200-person trip, which spanned three days and was first covered by Bloomberg, happened over the weekend, with Griffin bearing the travel, accommodation, entertainment, ticket, food and all other expenses. Citadel confirmed that to FOX Business on Tuesday.
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 1, 2017. (Reuters / Lucy Nicholson) (Reuters Photos)
The firm said that APAC employees who were unable to come to an event last year in Orlando, Florida, to commemorate anniversary milestones for Citadel and Citadel Securities because of COVID restrictions had prompted it to put on the three-day celebration. The Florida trip – wholly funded by Griffin – involved employees from the U.S., Canada and Europe and their loved ones, totaling 10,000, per Citadel.
For the hedge fund, it was for its 30th anniversary back in COVID-stricken 2020 while the latter firm’s anniversary in 2022 marked two decades. The Tokyo event was for both, according to the company.
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Much of Griffin’s massive personal fortune stems from Citadel LLC.
On its real-time tracker, Forbes put his net worth around $33.5 billion as of Tuesday afternoon. It was slightly higher than that, at $35.6 billion, by Bloomberg’s measure.
CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin interviews Kenneth C. Griffin, Citadel founder and CEO, at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference on July 18 in NYC. (Heidi Gutman / CNBC / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal / Getty Images)
Included in the approximately 1,200 people who went to the Griffin-funded anniversary event at Tokyo Disney were all of the APAC employees, their significant others and their kids, according to Citadel. Griffin participated with other top leaders at the firms making the trip, too.
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There was a special anniversary party on Saturday. At that event, the band Maroon 5 and DJ Calvin Harris provided entertainment.
Maroon 5 is known for songs such as "Payphone" and "Moves Like Jagger" while Harris has put out hits like "This is What You Came For" with Rihanna and "One Kiss" with Dua Lipa.
Express passes were gifted to the participating employees and families for Tokyo Disney, where they were able to enjoy Tokyo Disneyland, Disney Sea and other areas of the resort over the course of the weekend, according to Citadel.
Visitors take a selfie in front of the Cinderella Castle at Tokyo Disneyland on Jan. 17, 2023, in Urayasu, Japan. (Tomohiro Ohsumi / Getty Images)
Oriental Land Co. operates Tokyo Disney and its nearly 500 acres through a licensing agreement with Disney, according to Disney in its last annual report. It has been open to the public for about 40 years.
Disney’s global theme park footprint spans 12 parks on six sites overall.