Most of Ken Griffin’s net worth comes from financial firms he built, along with a sprawling collection of luxury homes, art, and other prized assets
Ken Griffin is known as the billionaire founder and CEO of hedge fund giant Citadel. As of 2025, Ken Griffin’s net worth hovers around the mid-$40 to high-$44 billion mark. Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index estimated Griffin’s net worth at roughly $48.3 billion by May 19, 2025, while Forbes lists it at around $44.5B.
Whatever the exact figure is, we’re talking tens of billions of dollars. But how did he get that rich? Most of Ken Griffin’s wealth comes from financial firms he built, along with a sprawling collection of luxury homes, art, and other prized assets. Below, we break down the biggest pieces of the puzzle that make up his 2025 fortune.
- Citadel hedge fund: Manages about $65 billion in client assets (as of early 2025). Griffin owns roughly 85% of the hedge fund, which is the engine of most of his wealth.
- Citadel Securities: A leading market-maker valued at about $22 billion (2022 valuation). Griffin is credited with roughly 80% ownership and often cites it as his single biggest asset.
- Real estate empire: A trophy portfolio spanning Palm Beach (a 27-acre oceanfront compound worth about $1 billion), Miami (multiple homes), New York City (luxury apartments), the Hamptons, and more. Recent purchases include a $90 million villa in St. Tropez and a $45 million duplex on Park Avenue.
- Art collection: Often reported at roughly $800 million in value. Griffin owns blue-chip contemporary artworks, for example, paying >$100 million for Basquiat’s “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump” – plus a multi-hundred-million on classic 20th-century pieces (De Kooning, Pollock, Warhol).
- Other valuables: Ken Griffin has even bid on ultra-rare collectibles like $43.2 million for a copy of the U.S. Constitution and $44.6 million for a complete Stegosaurus fossil, which technically adds to his asset tally, though they’re more extravagant purchases than recurring sources of income.
Let’s unpack each of these in turn.
Citadel: the hedge fund powerhouse
The single largest source of Ken Griffin’s net worth is Citadel LLC, the hedge fund he founded in 1990. Citadel manages about $65 billion of investor assets as of early 2025. Griffin personally owns an overwhelming majority of Citadel’s hedge-fund business, roughly 85% according to SEC filings and financial media. So he benefits massively from the firm’s profits. Bloomberg notes that “The money Griffin has made managing Citadel Advisors accounts for the majority of his wealth.” The fund charges hefty fees (traditionally 2-and-20) and has delivered phenomenal returns in recent years.
For example, a Bloomberg report based on Citadel’s bond-offering prospectus revealed the firm’s major fund lines earned a combined $57 billion in gains from 2021 through September 2024 (rare transparency for a hedge fund). In public interviews and filings, Citadel staff boast that the firm has “regularly generated profits, a total of $25 billion since 2017”, helping grow Griffin’s stake even more. In plain English, Citadel’s traders have been on a tear, and Griffin (as owner) keeps a big chunk of that profit.
Since Citadel is a private company, analysts estimate its value using industry benchmarks. Bloomberg says Griffin’s 85% stake is valued using multiples of peer firms’ earnings. Citadel consistently beats stocks and bonds, so the calculation implies a multi-billion-dollar private equity value for his ownership. Even without official stock quotes, Citadel is indisputably the engine of Ken Griffin’s net worth. In fact, Bloomberg’s profile lists Citadel Securities (the market‐making arm) as his biggest asset, but Citadel Advisors (the hedge fund) is a close second, and together they dominate his portfolio.
Over the past year or two, Citadel’s strong performance has translated into big swings in Griffin’s fortune. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ken Griffin’s net worth increased by about $6.9 billion (16.7%) in the first 4+ months of 2025, reflecting gains on his Citadel holdings (and broader markets). In short, as Citadel profits go up, Griffin’s wealth grows too. (For perspective, when Citadel underperformed in early 2023, Ken Griffin’s net worth dipped – Forbes’ real-time tracking shows his 2024 net worth slipped about $1.36 billion from 2023.)
Citadel Securities: market-making cash machine
Alongside the hedge fund, Griffin also runs Citadel Securities, a leading market-maker in stocks, bonds, and ETFs. Citadel Securities is a separate private company, but Griffin owns about 80% of it, making it a core part of his fortune. This company has grown explosively, executing roughly $500 billion in trades per day across markets (from equities to Treasuries).
A key valuation benchmark came in January 2022, when Citadel Securities took in a $1.15 billion investment from Sequoia Capital and Paradigm. That deal pegged Citadel Securities at about a $22 billion total valuation. Bloomberg applies that $22B figure to Griffin’s 80% stake, suggesting roughly $17–18 billion of his net worth is tied up in Citadel Securities. (The firm’s value is treated as a private equity stake: Bloomberg says the initial 2022 value was “adjusted to account for subsequent revenue growth”, meaning they likely marked it higher by now.)
And revenue growth indeed accelerated. In fiscal 2024, Citadel Securities reported record numbers: about $9.7 billion in net trading revenues (a 55% jump year-over-year) and roughly $5.2 billion in EBITDA (an 87% jump). In plainer terms, their market‐making desks made almost $10B in trading fees in 2024, thanks in part to high volatility and trading volume. Those profits largely flow to the company’s owners, Griffin and a few co-founders, significantly boosting the firm’s private value.
In sum, Citadel Securities is a huge cash-generating machine. Even though it’s private, analysts treat it like a mid-cap company: by late 2024, its private valuation (based on revenue multiples) was easily above $22B, meaning Griffin’s share is worth on the order of tens of billions. Combined with Citadel Advisors, the two companies explain why Ken Griffin’s net worth towers around $45B.
Real estate empire: mansions across the globe
Griffin is famous for splurging on trophy properties around the world. Bloomberg notes his personal real estate portfolio spans “Miami, Palm Beach, New York, The Hamptons, Hawaii, and London,” plus office buildings. Let’s cover the highlights:
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Palm Beach, Florida
This is his crown jewel. Over the past decade, he assembled a 27-acre oceanfront estate on Palm Beach’s Billionaires Row, dozens of lots combined into one mega-property. Bloomberg notes the “27-acre Palm Beach compound is estimated to be worth $1 billion.” Rabideau/Klein reports that Griffin has spent at least $500 million buying land there. In 2019, he paid nearly $105 million for a 4.5-acre ocean-to-lake lot (a local record).
He’s since demolished houses and built plans for a 50,000+ sq ft mansion for his mother that will reportedly cost up to $400 million and top $1B in value once finished. We’ll soon see an image of the plan. Bloomberg includes this Palm Beach palace in its net-worth tally – it’s literally a $1 billion asset on paper.
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South Florida (Miami area)
Besides Palm Beach, Griffin went on a Miami real-estate buying spree after relocating to Florida. In 2020-2023, he spent about $169 million on Star Island in Miami Beach, snapping up seven adjacent waterfront homes totaling 6.5 acres. He also paid $75 million in 2021 for one Star Island estate (setting the county price record at the time).
In Coconut Grove (Miami), he paid $100+ million on two bayfront mansions, a $75M purchase in 2021, and a record-smashing $106.9 million in 2022. That $106.9M deal (a 4-acre property) set the Miami-Dade all-time sales record. Citadel’s move to Miami in 2023 coincided with these buys, hinting that Griffin bet big on Sunshine State real estate.
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Chicago
Although Griffin grew up and built Citadel in Chicago, he’s been offloading Illinois holdings. In late 2024, he sold two unfinished Chicago penthouses for a combined $19 million, about 44% below what he originally paid. He has moved his family and much of Citadel’s operations to South Florida, so Chicago is largely a legacy market now. Bloomberg notes a Citadel spokesperson brushed off the Chicago sale losses by highlighting big gains in Florida properties.
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New York City
Griffin also owns high-end NYC apartments. Most recently (Feb 2025), he paid $45 million for a duplex at Manhattan’s storied 740 Park Avenue, a co-op once home to billionaires like David Koch. That 8,500 sq ft co-op (previously owned by Julia Koch) became Griffin’s new trophy pad. (He already owned two condos at 350 Fifth Avenue in Midtown.) The Park Ave buy was reported in early 2025 and is a perfect example of his willingness to drop tens of millions on prestige real estate in any market.
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Other homes
He’s been reported to own properties in London and the Hamptons, and he famously bought a waterfront estate in St. Tropez, France, for >$90 million in June 2024. On the West Coast, Griffin has a mansion in Hawaii and an oil platform complex off California (bought for $65M in 2018). Altogether, Bloomberg notes “trophy properties” across several markets.
NOTE: Griffin’s real estate holdings are immense. They include multi-acre estates and luxury condos whose combined value is easily in the billion-dollar range. In fact, Bloomberg explicitly factors “the value of his art collection and personal investments” (including properties) into Ken Griffin’s net worth as of 2025. When one mansion sells, it barely dents his wealth. When property values rise in Florida, he gains hundreds of millions.
Art collection: multi-hundred-million dollar treasures
Few hedge-fund billionaires are more avid art collectors than Ken Griffin. His trove of modern and contemporary art is often quoted at around $800 million to $1 billion in value. Bloomberg’s profile confirms this, noting Griffin’s other assets include “the value of his art collection.” (For reference, that’s far above the typical Wall Street executive’s collection).
Some landmark purchases have made headlines:
- In 2020, Griffin privately paid over $100 million for Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 canvas “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump.” That made news in the arts media (The painting is now on loan at the Art Institute of Chicago).
- In 2015, he reportedly dropped $500 million total on two major abstract-expressionist paintings: $300M for Willem de Kooning’s Interchange (1955) and $200M for Jackson Pollock’s Number 17A (1948). That deal, from collector David Geffen, was one of the largest private art sales ever.
- Around 2017, Griffin is said to have paid $200 million for Andy Warhol’s Orange Marilyn (from Si Newhouse’s collection).
- He has assembled an “art collection worth close to $800 million,” according to one report.
In casual terms, Griffin buys art like he buys stocks, with big checks. He’s a trustee of major museums (Whitney, Art Institute of Chicago, MoMA), and Bloomberg says he aims to share works publicly after purchase. The point here is that his art is a store of wealth. Even if these paintings don’t earn income, they significantly pad Ken Griffin’s net worth, because masterpieces rarely sell below what he paid in today’s dollars (Auctions of comparable works often show high 8- and 9-figure prices).
Other assets and luxuries
Beyond firms, houses, and paintings, Ken Griffin’s net worth includes some very unusual items:
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Historic documents
In 2021, Griffin famously paid $43.2 million at Sotheby’s for the last privately held copy of the United States Constitution. He was competing against the crypto collective ConstitutionDAO and outbid them, ostensibly to keep this founding document in safe hands. The contract was loaned to a museum afterward, but the price tag, $43M, is part of Griffin’s 2025 asset store.
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Fossils
In July 2024, he bought “Apex,” a mounted Stegosaurus skeleton, for $44.6 million, a record price for a fossil. The sale shattered the previous auction record and shows that Griffin is willing to invest his billions in trophy collectibles of every type, not just real estate or art (He intends to loan “Apex” to a museum, per press reports.
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Luxury jets and yachts
While less public, Griffin also owns at least two private jets (Bombardier Global Express and Global 6000) and likely a yacht or two. These “assets” are expensive to buy and maintain, though in net worth, they are relatively small. Bloomberg’s profile lumps transportation and similar personal items under miscellaneous private assets.
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Cash and investments
Griffin also has a lot of cash and liquid investments from running Citadel. Forbes notes he’s given away huge sums to charity (over $1.5B) and spent lavishly on purchases, so he doesn’t hoard idle cash like some billionaires. However, between stock options, bonds, money market funds, and company dividends, a chunk of his fortune is in cash or equivalents, which the Bloomberg index would count under “cash.” Exact figures aren’t public, but it’s likely in the low billions.
NOTE: In all, these non-business assets (art, real estate, collectibles) make Ken Griffin’s net worth more diverse than that of a pure money manager. They also mean his net worth can be “locked in” by illiquid holdings, but media estimates count them at high valuations. Bloomberg’s take is a good proxy: they list “confidence rating” high on his profile, indicating they’re fairly sure of the total. In this case, diversified big-ticket purchases essentially reaffirm the size of his fortune rather than obscure it.
2025 developments and transactions
The year 2025 saw a few notable events that shook up Griffin’s balance sheet:
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New York purchase
We mentioned the $45 million buy of the 740 Park Avenue duplex in February 2025. That purchase alone is a 2025 transaction that added to his holdings. It’s emblematic, a splashy deal in one of Manhattan’s priciest buildings.
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Florida move
In late 2024, Griffin confirmed Citadel would move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami (taking advantage of Florida’s lower taxes and vibrant markets). He also relocated personally to Florida. This isn’t a “sale,” but it explains why he is dumping Chicago condos and doubling down on Florida real estate. It may also boost future earnings at Citadel by saving billions in taxes (Florida has no state income tax).
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Art market gains
By 2025, the art pieces Griffin bought years ago will have appreciated further. For example, Basquiat’s record auction price climbed to $125M in 2023, making Griffin’s $100M purchase even more valuable on paper. Similar mark-to-market effects apply to his Warhols, Pollocks, etc. No specific 2025 auction, but overall, the art market remains strong, bolstering his listed art values.
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Citadel’s boom years
Citadel’s stellar 2023 and early 2024 results upped Ken Griffin’s net worth. (The Bloomberg Billionaires Index notes that he is up nearly $7B year-to-date as of mid-2025). Citadel’s flagship Multistrat fund was in the black, and the quant fund had a stellar start to 2025. In essence, Ken Griffin’s net worth growth in 2025 is largely thanks to Citadel’s profits being reinvested in these assets.
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Citadel securities valuation
No new funding rounds came in 2024-25, but some analysts speculate that with $9.7B revenue in 2024, the value of Citadel Securities might now exceed its 2022 $22B tag. If re-valued at even $30B today, Griffin’s share will increase by billions. While this isn’t official news, the market buzz is that Citadel Securities is worth more than ever, which would boost Ken Griffin’s net worth accordingly.
Bottom line: a $45B fortune at work
Ken Griffin’s $45 billion net worth in 2025 is anchored in Citadel, his hedge fund empire, and Citadel Securities, a powerhouse trading firm. Together, they generate billions. Citadel Securities alone brought in nearly $10 billion in revenue in 2024. Griffin controls nearly all of both, making his net worth resilient even as markets shift.
Beyond finance, Ken Griffin’s net worth includes ultra-luxury real estate, blue-chip art, and rare collectibles like dinosaur fossils. Bloomberg reports Griffin’s fortune at $48.3 billion; Forbes estimates about $44.5 billion, either way, he ranks among the world’s richest people.
Griffin is known for paying top dollar to secure what he wants, whether it’s a Manhattan penthouse or a Picasso. His transactions, often in the hundreds of millions, barely dent his total wealth. For context, he could theoretically buy dozens of superyachts and still have billions to spare. His decades-long bet on finance continues to pay off handsomely.
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