Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Citadel LLC
The Miami-based multi-strategy hedge fund that Ken Griffin started in Chicago on 1 November 1990 with ~$4.6m, after trading convertible bonds from his Harvard dormitory in 1987; that nearly died in 2008 when its flagship Kensington and Wellington funds lost ~55% and it gated redemptions; and that rebuilt itself into the most profitable hedge-fund manager on record — ~$90.4bn of net gains for investors since inception to end-2025 (LCH Investments, reported). Its trading story is risk management as the product: hundreds of portfolio-manager teams ("pods") in equities, fixed income and macro, commodities, credit and quant strategies, each hedged to market and factor risk and cut back automatically after losses, funded by long-dated investor capital and charged to investors through pass-through fees rather than "2 and 20". Its flagship Wellington fund made a reported ~38.1% in 2022 (~$16bn of net gains, then a record) and ~10.2% in 2025. It is legally separate from the market maker Citadel Securities, which grew out of its 2002 options desk and which Griffin also controls.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1 Nov 1990, Chicago, by Kenneth C. Griffin, as Wellington Financial Group, with ~$4.6m; renamed Citadel in 1994 (Wikipedia; Finance KB)
- Founder
- Ken Griffin (born 1968); traded convertibles at Harvard from 1987; early backing from Frank Meyer of Glenwood Partners (Finance KB, reported)
- Headquarters
- Miami (move announced 23 Jun 2022); large offices in New York, Chicago, Greenwich, London, Hong Kong and others; Boston office announced Sep 2025 (Wikipedia)
- Ownership / structure
- Private; Griffin owns the large majority of the management company (~85%, reported — Finance KB); SEC-registered adviser; funds are private funds; separate from Citadel Securities with information barriers
- Leadership (2026)
- Ken Griffin, founder and CEO; Gerald Beeson, COO (joined 1993); business heads for Equities, Fixed Income and Macro, Commodities, Credit and Convertibles, Global Quantitative Strategies (Finance KB, reported)
- Funds
- Wellington (flagship multi-strategy) and Kensington (sister flagship); single-strategy funds including Citadel Equities (Global Equities), Tactical Trading and Global Fixed Income (Finance KB, reported)
- Scale (dated, reported)
- AUM ~$66bn (mid-2025), ~$72bn (late 2025), ~$67bn at the start of 2026 after ~$5bn of profits were returned (CNBC, via Finance KB). Wikipedia's infobox gives ~$77bn (Jan 2026) while its own text says $67bn; section 14 quotes ~$66bn and ~$77bn. Settled by C03: the ~$77bn infobox figure is unsupported — use the dated CNBC series (~$66bn mid-2025, ~$72bn late 2025, ~$67bn start 2026). >$63bn (Jun 2024, Wikipedia). ~3,150 employees (2024)
- Returns (Wellington, net, reported)
- ~−55% (2008); ~+62% (2009); ~+24% (2020, verify); ~+26% (2021); ~+38.1% (2022); ~+15.3% (2023); ~+15.1% (2024); ~+10.2% (2025), reportedly its worst since 2018; ~+13.4% to Sep 2026 (Finance KB; section 14; all reported, Citadel does not publish them)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding and convertible arbitrage (1990); lock-ups and the LTCM-era buying (1998); Amaranth's energy book (2006); Sowood and E*Trade (2007); the 2008 near-death and redemption gate; back to the high-water mark and the pod model (2009–12); the Melvin Capital injection (Jan 2021); the record 2022 and the Miami move; returning profits and pass-through fees (2023–26)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1990
Founding and Convertible Arbitrage
Founding / fund launch
1998
Lock Ups and the LTCM Opportunity
Investor-terms change / buying from forced sellers in a crisis
2006
Amaranth Energy Book
Large trade / portfolio purchase from a distressed fund
2007
Sowood and ETrade Rescues
Portfolio purchase / rescue investment
2008
Near Death and the Redemption Gate
Loss and blow-up response; restructuring (redemption gate) — failure
2012
High Water Mark and the Pod Model
Strategy pivot / risk-limit change (organisation)
2021
Melvin Capital Injection
Rescue investment into another hedge fund (loss); political and legal controversy
2022
Record Year and the Miami Move
Outcome (record trading year) / headquarters relocation
2023
Returning Profits and Pass Through Fees
Return of outside capital / fee model