Partners of Citadel, including Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO, and its sister company, Citadel Securities, pledged $7.5 million to help China deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
Citadel’s efforts are multifaceted and include “procuring difficult-to-obtain medical supplies, donating to China-based humanitarian organizations, facilitating relief efforts for families displaced by the virus and supporting efforts to accelerate medical research and vaccine development,” Citadel spokeswoman Megan Ingersoll said in an email.
Citadel has sent more than $1 million in medical supplies critical to treating virus sufferers to Hubei Xinhua Hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak.
Citadel’s donation also will provide humanitarian aid through the Hubei Charity Federation and China Charity Foundation.
“Our first priority was delivering much-needed supplies required by local medical professionals and enabling experts to administer aid as effectively as possible,” said Peng Zhao, CEO of Citadel Securities, in a Citadel news release. Mr. Zhao is one of many Citadel employees born in China.
Mr. Griffin said in the release “our hearts go out to all impacted by this situation, particularly those in China, which is the native country of many of our colleagues.”
Citadel has offered investment management and brokerage services in China since 2014, Bloomberg reported.
Citadel manages $30 billion in multistrategy hedge funds mostly for institutional investors.
Goldman Sachs’ office of corporate engagements worked with non-profit partners to determine “where our assistance can be most effective” in China, according to a Feb. 4 employee memo obtained by Pensions & Investments.
The firm will donate a total of $1 million to support medical efforts regarding the virus of the Chinese Red Cross, International Medical Corps. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation Emergency Response Fund, the memo said.
Goldman Sachs runs a total of $1.8 trillion in assets under supervision and management.
