Citadel’s Ken Griffin makes the case for leaving ‘failed metropolis state’ for Florida

From a shaky Windy Metropolis to the steadier Sunshine State, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin revealed the actual purpose he moved his household and multibillion-dollar hedge fund to Miami.

“I’ve lived in a failed city-state. I lived in Chicago for 30-some years. I had two colleagues who had bullets fly by their automobiles,” Griffin advised Fox Information’ Bret Baier on the America Enterprise Discussion board on Wednesday.

“I had 25 bullet holes within the entrance of my constructing the place I lived. You possibly can’t reside in a metropolis awash [with] violent crime,” he continued.

Griffin moved Citadel’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami after practically three a long time within the Windy Metropolis. The hedge fund is without doubt one of the largest and most profitable on the planet, managing an estimated $65 billion in belongings.

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Now, after shifting south in 2022, Griffin defined how he’s observed a pointy distinction between the 2 cities’ high quality of life.

“Are you aware how nice it’s to go to dinner and folks discuss their youngsters, and so they discuss their future, and so they achieve this with pleasure and enthusiasm?” he requested. “We misplaced that in Chicago within the final 10 years. Dinner in Chicago could be about crime, about cronyism, about failed insurance policies within the state. It’s so refreshing to be in a metropolis the place folks discuss tomorrow.”

“Entrepreneurs are folks that imagine in tomorrow. It is actually powerful to begin a enterprise, however do not child your self – you do not personal your small business, your small business owns you. So you need to have an excessive amount of optimism concerning the future,” he added. “And it’s so nice to see the optimism that we’ve got right here in Miami. It is actually particular.”

Not solely Miami, but additionally different main South Florida metropolitan areas like Palm Seashore and Fort Lauderdale have seen a surge in wealth and inhabitants development lately. A report earlier this 12 months discovered that each West Palm Seashore and Miami surpassed New York Metropolis because the world’s fastest-growing wealth hubs. West Palm noticed a 112% bounce in millionaire residents over the previous decade, whereas Miami noticed a 94% enhance.

Decrease state taxes and general value of residing have extra broadly attracted People to maneuver to Florida. A June report from the state’s Workplace of Financial & Demographic Analysis predicts that Florida’s inhabitants will surpass 24 million by 2027 and attain 27 million inside the subsequent 14 years, averaging greater than 200,000 new residents per 12 months.

When requested a few additional exodus, Griffin urged that the latest New York Metropolis mayoral election might gasoline one other surge of rich residents and enterprise leaders shifting to the Sunshine State.

“I pray that the insurance policies that [Zohran] Mamdani makes use of to control and lead New York are totally different than the speaking factors he used to win the mayoral race. The folks of New York deserve higher,” Griffin mentioned.

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“If I take a look at Miami and why it’s so profitable — the give attention to schooling, the give attention to public security — these are secure streets; we reside in a secure metropolis. The give attention to neighborhood — this can be a metropolis that has nice satisfaction in what we’ve completed collectively and what we’ll accomplish forward,” he mentioned.

“I am grateful for the management of the state of Florida. It is a excellent spot to name residence, and I actually hope that when Mamdani thinks about management, he thinks about the correct position fashions. And there is a lot to repeat from our nice state of Florida.”

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