Billionaire Ken Griffin moving hedge fund from Chicago to Miami amid crime complaints
Crime reportedly plays role in decision to move business out of Chicago
Billionaire Ken Griffin has announced he will be moving his hedge-fund firm Citadel Securities from Chicago to Miami, according to a letter obtained by FOX Business Thursday.
In a memo to employees, Griffin called Miami a city of "diversity" and suggested its "energy" would offer up a better environment. Though he did not directly cite Chicago’s infamous crime stats, a source suggested this was a contributing factor in the decision to move the company.
Griffin himself has already made the move to the Sunshine State.
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Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO, Citadel, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 2, 2022. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The move comes just one month after the billionaire doubled down on his effort to boot Democratic incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker from office.
Griffin provided GOP candidate Richard Irvin with $25 million in campaign funds after initially providing $20 million in seed money.
It is unclear if he will continue to try and turn the Illinois governor's seat red in a state that has trended blue in every presidential election since 1992.
But Griffin’s wealth will likely be a felt loss in Chicago which reportedly received more than $600 million in gift donations to educational, cultural, medical and civic organizations.
The hedge-fund billionaire is ranked as one of the 50 richest individuals in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and he is believed to be worth $28.9 billion.
Police officers inspect a damaged Best Buy store after parts of the city had widespread looting and vandalism, on Aug. 10, 2020, in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois," Griffin wrote. "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."
The move to Miami is expected to be multi-year process and not all of the roughly 2,600 employees in Chicago will be expected to make the 1,200-mile move.
Griffin has long been critical of Chicago’s crime rate and what he viewed as a lackluster response by the Democratic governor.
A broken storefront window is seen after parts of the city had widespread looting and vandalism, on Aug. 10, 2020, in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The billionaire threatened to move the $51 billion business out of Illinois earlier this year and listed crime as a chief reason.
"If people aren’t safe here, they’re not going to live here," he told the Wall Street Journal in April. "I’ve had multiple colleagues mugged at gunpoint. I’ve had a colleague stabbed on the way to work. Countless issues of burglary. I mean, that’s a really difficult backdrop with which to draw talent to your city from."
Caterpillar and Boeing, both headquartered in Chicago, also announced they were moving out of the city earlier this month.