2015 Earnings: $1.7 billion.
Ken Griffin’s hedge fund firm, Citadel, has performed very well in recent years while most other hedge funds have disappointed. Griffin’s great run continued in 2015, when his main hedge funds posted returns of 14.3% net of fees. Citadel’s Global Equities hedge fund returned 17.2% net of fees and its Tactical Trading fund posted a 16% net return. But Citadel was dealing with some losses at the start of 2016. Griffin recently moved to buy a $200 million condo complex in a Manhattan tower that is under construction. He also bought two paintings for $500 million. Griffin, who began trading in the 1980s in his Harvard dorm room, founded Citadel in 1990 with approximately $4 million. The firm now manages some $25 billion in assets. Griffin filed for divorce in 2014 from his wife of 11 years, Anne Dias Griffin, a Goldman Sachs alum who is also a money manager. The contentious divorce proceedings in Illinois state court ended with a settlement in 2015.
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