Kenneth Griffin
| Kenneth Griffin | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | Citadel |
| Role: | Founder and CEO |
| Location: | Chicago, Ill. |
| Education: | •Harvard University |
Kenneth Griffin is the founder and CEO of Citadel, a privately-held, global multistrategy hedge fund and asset management firm based in Chicago, Ill.[1] Griffin founded Citadel in 1990.[2] A self-described "...nonpartisan devoted to 'fair markets, free markets, personal liberty and freedom'", Crain's Chicago Business named Griffin as "Chicago's richest resident".[3][4] In 2015, Forbes estimated Griffin's net worth between $6.5 and $7 billion dollars.[5]
Career
Griffin, a native of Florida, "...started trading while in the dorms at Harvard University" before working for Glenwood Partners.[6] In 1990, Griffin founded Citadel, his Chicago, Ill.-based hedge fund.
Presidential preference
2016 presidential endorsement
✓ Griffin endorsed Marco Rubio for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[7]
- See also: Endorsements for Marco Rubio
Political giving
Griffin described his motivation for political donations to the Chicago Tribune:[8]
| “ |
"I have made a number of significant political contributions over the last three years, both at the state level and the national level. I've made a number of contributions to what are referred to today as PACs and super PACs, because I'm terrified that we as a country are headed in the wrong direction."[9] |
” |
Since 2011, Griffin has donated more than $6,500,000 in soft money to political action committees.[10] [11] Additionally, Griffin has donated more than $1,000,000 to individual campaigns and political action committees at the federal level.
Griffin donated almost $13.6 million dollars to Gov. Bruce Rauner's (R) campaign in 2014.[4] Griffin has also given Rahm Emanuel's (D) 2015 campaign for Mayor of Chicago, Ill. $325,000, with another $850,000 to Chicago Forward, "...a super PAC that supports Mayor Rahm Emanuel".[4] The Illinois State Board of Elections lists Griffin's total donations at over $17 million dollars.[12]
Griffin donated more than $2 million to the American Crossroads Super PAC between 2010 and 2014, and Griffin has made campaign donations to both Democratic and Republican candidates, including President Barack Obama (D), former Senator John Kerry (D-Ma.), U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and U.S Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Griffin has given to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.[11][13]
Griffin was named to Crain's Chicago Business "Top 20 most powerful political insiders" list in September 2015, and ranked #12 on Chicago Magazine's "Power 100" list of most influential Chicagoans in March 2015.[14][15]
In April 2024, Punchbowl News reported Griffin had given $4 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund to support four specific Republican candidates in battleground races—Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), and Jennifer Kiggans (R-Va.). The outlet reported that to that point in the 2024 cycle, Griffin had given at least $23 million to political campaigns or PACs.[16]
Top influencers by state
Influencers in American politics are power players who help get candidates elected, put through policy proposals, cause ideological changes, and affect popular perceptions. They can take on many forms: politicians, lobbyists, advisors, donors, corporations, industry groups, labor unions, single-issue organizations, nonprofits, to name a few.
In 2015, Ballotpedia identified Kenneth Griffin as a top influencer by state. We identified top influencers across the country through several means, including the following:
- Local knowledge of our professional staff
- Surveys of activists, thought leaders and journalists from across the country and political spectrum
- Outreach to political journalists in each state who helped refine our lists
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kenneth Griffin. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Citadel, "Homepage," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ Citadel, "Leadership: Kenneth Griffin," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Citadel’s Ken Griffin Leaves 2008 Tumble Far Behind," August 3, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Crain's Chicago Business, "The top 20 most powerful political insiders," September 7, 2015
- ↑ Forbes, "The World's Billionaires: Ken Griffin," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ Crain's Chicago Business, "Not the Ken Griffin story you were expecting," March 6, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "Kenneth Griffin, Richest Man in Illinois, Endorses Marco Rubio," December 9, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Ken Griffin interview: billionaire talks politics and money," March 11, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ To access a record of Griffin's federal campaign contributions, go the "Transaction Query By Individual Contributor" page on the Federal Election Commission's website, and search for Kenneth Griffin, Chicago, Illinois, Employer: Citatel
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Federal Election Commission, "Transaction Query By Individual Contributor," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Individual Contributions: Kenneth Griffin," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ Democratic Underground, "Billionaire leads hedge fund shift away from Obama," December 7, 2010
- ↑ Crain’s Chicago Business, "The 20 most powerful political insiders," September 7, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Magazine, "The Power 100," March 2015
- ↑ Punchbowl News, "Ken Griffin gives $4M to House GOP super PAC," April 15, 2024
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