The hedge fund billionaire betting Miami can rival New York’s Wall Street

Good morning. Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, is making a bold, long-term wager, not just on his $69 billion hedge fund or his $2.5 billion Norman Foster-designed headquarters rising on Biscayne Bay. He’s betting on Miami as the next great American business capital.

That is the premise of a new Fortune feature by my colleague Shawn Tully, which explores Griffin’s efforts to reshape Miami and influence American politics. For CFOs weighing corporate footprint decisions, Griffin’s Miami playbook offers a compelling case study. In 2022, Citadel moved its headquarters from Chicago to Miami, becoming one of several investment firms that shifted to Florida post-pandemic.

For Griffin, the relocation was a long-term financial strategy. He’s investing not only in his firm, but in Miami as a future financial hub that he believes could one day compete with New York City. The move highlights how location decisions have become a core lever for cost, talent, and growth.

Citadel now employs about 500 people in Miami, including Griffin; Citadel Securities CEO Peng Zhao and president Jim Esposito; and Sebastian Barrack, who has run the commodities trading franchise for a decade. New York and London remain larger by headcount, but Miami is Citadel’s fastest-growing outpost by far. Griffin told Fortune that he feels “optimism in the air here.”

Many other companies have also planted roots in Miami. Since the pandemic, a growing roster of large firms, including ServiceNow, Wells Fargo’s wealth management unit, Palantir, Thoma Bravo, and Thiel Capital, has committed substantial operations to South Florida.........

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