Griffin Says Florida Can Reposition Itself to Lure Talent

(Bloomberg) -- Florida has the chance to reinvent itself as a destination for talented workers after a portion of the finance industry relocated to the state during the pandemic, Citadel founder Ken Griffin said.

“Right now Florida has an opportunity to capture a new moment in America,” the 53-year-old hedge fund billionaire said Thursday at a luncheon hosted by the Palm Beach Civic Association at the Florida town’s Four Seasons hotel. “There is a chance for Florida to reposition itself as a destination for talent in a way that forever changes the state.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic last year, Citadel Securities -- the trading portion of Griffin’s empire -- largely left its Chicago and New York offices and took over the Four Seasons Palm Beach, moving dozens of employees and their families, and building a temporary trading floor complete with rows of monitors supporting staff and interns.

Griffin, owner of the largest piece of property in Palm Beach, said he chose Florida for his firm’s relocation because, at the time, there was a theory the virus didn’t spread as fast in warmer climates. “We needed a place to work safely” given that Citadel was “responsible for about one in four trades in America every day,” he said.

Citadel currently occupies space at Southeast Financial Center in Miami, and is looking for additional office space in the area, according to spokesman Zia Ahmed. The firm’s temporary setup at the Four Seasons Palm Beach lasted a full year, during which no Covid-19 cases were transmitted at the site, according to Citadel. The trading floor, which was set up in less than a week, required 28,000 feet (8,500 meters) of network cable.

Griffin founded Citadel in 1990, and the hedge fund now has about $43 billion in investment capital. He later established Citadel Securities, the market maker serves asset managers, banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, government agencies and public pension programs.

About 200 people were in attendance at Thursday’s event, including billionaire real estate entrepreneur Jeff Greene, former Sotheby’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Ainslie and homebuilder Llwyd Ecclestone. Guests were asked to be vaccinated or wear a mask.

Griffin also said during the talk that he’s worried about the long-term impact of the pandemic’s work-from-home trend. Developing a generation of talent in such an environment “is preposterous,” he said.

Young workers who stay away from the office “won’t have the experiences in the conference rooms” to develop vital skills working around other people, he said. “We are going to lose a generation -- a generation we need.”

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