Billionaire Ken Griffin decided it was time to relocate the headquarters of his giant hedge fund Citadel from Chicago after a colleague was robbed while having a gun pressed to his head during a coffee run, according to a report.
Griffin, whose net worth is pegged by Forbes at $31 billion, announced earlier this year that his family and the investment firm would decamp from the Windy City in favor of Miami.
The 53-year-old financial tycoon cited Chicago’s soaring rate of violent crime as a key factor in the decision, telling Bloomberg News that he has personally been affected by Chicago’s descent into what the news site calls “anarchy.”
One of his colleagues went to get coffee when he was accosted by an armed assailant who put “a gun to his head” and robbed him, Griffin told the site.
Griffin said another colleague was outside waiting for a car when he was approached by “some random lunatic just trying to punch him in the head.”
Meanwhile, the Miami native is wasting no time in putting his stamp on his hometown, which is evolving into what observers call “Wall Street South.”
Earlier this month, Griffin set a Miami record by purchasing a waterfront compound for $109 million.
Citadel has also been busy snapping up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of commercial property in its new home — the trendy financial district of Brickell.
“We’re not sort of in — we’re all in,” Griffin told Bloomberg when asked about his plans for the company’s Miami expansion.
Griffin also revealed that he would be open to serving as Treasury secretary in a Ron DeSantis administration if the GOP governor of Florida decides to make a bid for the White House in 2024.
He told Bloomberg that he “will definitely be involved in the presidential race” and that he would consider moving to Washington, DC, if called upon to do so by a Republican president.
Last week, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told a group of business leaders that his company, which is headquartered in Chicago, is having difficulty recruiting talent due to the soaring crime rate.