Ken Griffin, founder and chief executive of the hedge fund Citadel, is ranked No. 37 on the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list with a net worth of $49.8 billion. He owns 80% of Citadel and also owns Citadel Securities.
Kenneth Cordele Griffin was born in 1968 in Daytona Beach, Florida, and grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, as well as in Texas and Wisconsin. In high school he ran a discount mail-order education-software company, EDCOM, from his bedroom.
Net Worth and Rank
- Forbes 2026 list: No. 37, with $49.8 billion
- Later estimate: Wikipedia says he had an estimated $51.2 billion in January 2026, making him the 34th richest person in the world
From Harvard Dorm to Citadel
Griffin started at Harvard College in 1986. One of his first investments was buying put options on Home Shopping Network, which earned him $5,000. He convinced administrators to let him put a satellite dish on the roof of Cabot House to receive stock quotes.
- 1990: he founded Citadel LLC, starting with $4.6 million in assets under management; his funds earned 43% in 1991 and 40% in 1992
- 2008: during the financial crisis he barred investors from withdrawing money for ten months, which drew criticism; the firm’s biggest funds ended the year down 55% but rose 62% in 2009
- Citadel Securities: one of the largest market makers in the United States
Art, History and Headquarters
- 2015: he bought Willem de Kooning’s Interchange and Jackson Pollock’s Number 17A for $500 million, the largest private art deal in history
- 2021: he outbid a group of crypto investors to buy the last privately held copy of the US Constitution at auction for $43.2 million
- 2022: he announced that Citadel and Citadel Securities would move their global headquarters from Chicago to Miami, citing Miami’s business environment and concerns about crime and public policy in Chicago
Giving and Politics
Forbes counted $1.56 billion in donations by Griffin in its 2023 list of America’s most generous givers, mainly for education, economic mobility and medical research. He has also given hundreds of millions of dollars to political candidates and causes, usually Republican or conservative.
Why It Matters
Citadel and Citadel Securities are among the biggest names in hedge funds and market making, and Griffin’s 80% ownership means the firm’s performance drives his fortune.
Net worth figures change daily with share prices. Rankings here follow the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list, with wealth measured on March 1, 2026.
Image: The Citadel Center in Chicago (file photo, 2013), which carries the name of Ken Griffin’s firm; Citadel moved its headquarters to Miami in 2022. Photo: Ken Lund / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
