Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin says Citadel could bail out struggling Chicago



[ad_1]

Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin said his investment firm may have to move its headquarters out of Chicago due to a host of issues in the city, including its high crime rate.

The billionaire hedge fund manager met at the Economic Club of Chicago on Monday, where he recalled a quote from 2013 where he described Chicago and Illinois as a city and state “with broken schools , bankrupt pensions, an increase in crime, a decline in the tax base and public corruption.

Ken griffin

Citadelle Founder and CEO Ken Griffin. (Photo by Michael Kovac / Getty Images)

THE RECONCILIATION INVOICE OF 3.5 T $ DEMS “A GIFT” TO BLUE CITIES, REP. BUCK SAYS

When asked what he thought of the Chicago situation eight years later, Griffin replied, “In the end, it’s even worse.”

“We have our work to do because we have a government in our state that continually puts votes in front of people, votes in front of lives, votes in front of schools,” Griffin said. “We have to start taking the state step by step away from the people who put their politics first and our people second.”

Griffin explained that although Chicago is the headquarters of Citadel, the company now has more than 1,000 employees in its New York office, which has become what he called “the focal point” of the company’s hedge fund. He added that if Chicago didn’t “change course,” his business would leave town in “years, not decades.”

“It’s getting harder and harder to have this as a world headquarters, a city that has so much violence,” said the CEO. “Chicago is like Afghanistan on a good day, and that’s a problem.”

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

“There is nowhere you can feel safe today when you come home at 9:30 pm, and worry about your kids coming and going from school,” he explained. “This is no way our city exists, and it’s really hard to recruit people in Chicago. When they read the headlines, they know the facts.”

“I can’t look people in the eye like I did 20 years ago [and say], ‘It’s a great place to raise a family. It’s a great place to call home, ”Griffin said. “I cannot give the same speech today. I can’t in good conscience. “

[ad_2]

Source link