Ken Griffin

Kenneth Griffin joined Harvard University in 1986. From his second year of University, he interested himself to financial markets, and bought also a satellite to receive market data in real time from his student room.

He founded a hedge fund specialized in convertible bonds. Following the crack of 1987, Griffin becomes rich. He had graduated in economics, and then drew the attention of Frank C. Meyer, founder of Glenwood Capital.

Griffin officially founded his investment fund in Chicago on 1st November 1990 with $ 4,2 million, and called it Citadel investment Group. Today he is still the hedge fund’s President and CEO. Citadel is a real success and is one of the largest hedge funds in the world. In 2010 his fortune was estimated at $ 2 billion by Forbes Magazine, and ranked him at 448th fortune in the world.

Griffin should have adapted to his hedge fund’s success. Today he is on front of media scene. He was interviewed by the magazine Institutional Investor and by Bloomberg and New York Times. In May 2008, he criticized Wall Street specially the traders who for him are too young and without wisdom.

Apart from business Griffin, he loves arts. He paid a record price ($ 60,5 million dollars) for a Paul Cézanne’s painting. He also made a donation of $ 19 million to Art Institute of Chicago, where he is a director. In 2004, Griffin and his wife, Anne, were ranked by the Art News magazine in the top ten most active art collectors in the world.

Griffin is a member of many philanthropic boards. He is actively involved in civic and cultural institutions in Chicago.

He is also a member of Advisory Board of Eurasia Group, specialized in securities regulation. In added, takes part of Economic Club of Chicago. In June 2002, Griffin was included in the CFO Magazine’s ranking as one of 100 most people in the finance world.