Illinois' richest man is pulling up stakes — and taking his company with him.
In an announcement to employees this morning, Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, the huge hedge fund based in Chicago, announced he has moved his family to Miami and that the corporate headquarters of Citadel and its related securities unit will be following along.
"Miami is a vibrant, growing metropolis that embodies the American dream — embracing the possibilities of what can be achieved," Mr. Griffin's announcement said. "I am excited to have recently moved to Miami with my family and look forward to rapidly expanding Citadel in a city still rich in diversity and abounding with energy."
Citadel managed $51 billion in hedge fund assets as of June 1.
Added Mr. Griffin: "Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois. Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and our other offices around the world."
Mr. Griffin did not elaborate on that, but it appears to be a reference to his frequent public complaints about rising crime levels in the city and high taxes in the state.
The announcement has been widely rumored in business circles in recent days.
Mr. Griffin himself was not available for comment, but a background paper released by the firm's spokesmen indicates that among the factors on his mind were that a Citadel employee recently was stabbed a block from the company's Dearborn Street office while walking to work, that someone attempted to carjack Mr. Griffin's car, and that there were "mass shootings, rioting and looting a few blocks" from his home.
The announcement indicates that Citadel now has about 1,000 employees in Chicago but that, unlike every one of the company's other offices, it has been losing staff because of the difficulty of recruiting people to Chicago.
A spokesman said the new Miami headquarters will house about 300 headquarters staff.
It is not known how many of them will come from Chicago, but relocations will begin this summer.
The announcement to workers notes that among other big financial and technology firms that recently have moved to or opened offices in Miami are Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Oracle and Hewlett-Packard.
Mr. Griffin was born in Florida, living in Daytona Beach and later Boca Raton.
The spokesman said Mr. Griffin has donated more than $600 million to local charities in Chicago and will be making a parting gift of $100 million that will be announced in coming days.
