Get All Access for $5/mo

Ken Griffin Is on Top of the Hedge Fund World. Read His Memo to the Citadel Team. The internal memo was titled "Citadel Widens Lead as Most Profitable Hedge Fund of All Time."

By Bradley Saacks

Key Takeaways

  • Citadel generated $8.1 billion in gains for investors last year, according to LCH Investments.
  • The firm, based in Miami, has made the most money for its investors than any other hedge fund.
  • Griffin congratulated his team on "a challenging year" for multi-strategy managers.
Getty Images via Business Insider
Citadel founder Ken Griffin now runs $56 billion at his hedge fund, as of the start of 2024.

This article originally appeared on Business Insider.

Another big year for billionaire Ken Griffin and Citadel has extended the lead the Miami-based money manager has over its peers.

While Citadel didn't reach the lofty heights it hit in 2022 — when it made the most-ever for investors of any hedge fund in a single year, according to data from LCH Investments — the $56 billion firm still generated $8.1 billion in gains last year.

It brought the firm's all-time gains to $74 billion, close to $20 billion more than the two firms tied for second all-time, D.E. Shaw and Millennium. The two firms have generated $56.1 billion in profits since they launched, according to the rankings.

The Miami-based manager overtook billionaire Ray Dalio's Bridgewater in the all-time rankings last year when it recorded $16 billion in profits for investors. Bridgewater's tough year — its Pure Alpha fund was up for most of the year until bond prices jumped in the fourth quarter, causing the strategy to fall 7.6% in 2023, Bloomberg reported — dropped the Connecticut-based firm to fourth all-time.

LCH Investments, a fund-of-funds that's a part of Edmond de Rothschild, published its annual ranking of hedge funds based on the gains they generated in the previous year and since inception Monday.

In an internal memo titled "Citadel Widens Lead as Most Profitable Hedge Fund of All Time," Griffin wrote, "We not only retained the #1 ranking, but we also more than doubled our lead over our closest competitors in the past year."

He congratulated the firm on what he called "a challenging year overall for multi-strategy managers." While Citadel beat out its peers, with a 15.3% gain in its Wellington fund, there were plenty of smaller peers that notched single-digit returns for their investors despite the S&P 500 surging 24%.

Citadel confirmed the contents of the memo but declined to comment further.

Read below for the full memo:

Colleagues,

I am incredibly proud to share that Citadel has once again topped LCH Investments' list of the most profitable hedge funds of all time. We not only retained the #1 ranking, but we also more than doubled our lead over our closest competitors in the past year. This is a particularly remarkable accomplishment in what was a challenging year overall for multi-strategy managers.

Our leading position among hedge funds reflects our relentless focus on delivering superior returns to our capital partners, which include many of the preeminent research institutions, universities, and healthcare organizations around the world.

While this news is another important milestone in the history of Citadel, I am confident that the best chapters of our story still lie ahead. I look forward to writing them together with all of you.

With deep appreciation,

Kenneth C. Griffin

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Growing a Business

6 Ways Automation Can Eliminate Your Company's Compliance Risks

Leverage automated systems to track, monitor and complete regulatory and compliance tasks.

Growing a Business

At 24, She Was Fired From Her Advertising Job. Then an 'Incredibly Important' Mindset Helped Her Build a Multimillion-Dollar Business.

Melissa Ben-Ishay's brother Brian Bushell encouraged her to follow her passion — and it led to major success.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Uses an Easy But Powerful Formula to Keep Facebook Relevant — Here's How It Works

Zuckerberg says Meta never thought small, even in the early days when it was just Facebook.

Science & Technology

Using AI Doesn't Have to Be Unethical — Build a Values-Driven AI Policy in 3 Steps

It's difficult to escape the feeling that today's AI technologies will radically change our work lives in the future. As an entrepreneur it feels like a dizzying array of considerations about AI, but here's another you may not have considered: brand impact of AI adoption.

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle She Started in a High School Locker Room Hit Multimillion-Dollar Revenue — and Taylor Swift Is a Fan: 'Invest in Yourself'

Elena Bonvicini, now 25, was inspired to start her side hustle during a 2016 visit to her grandparents in Wisconsin.

Thought Leaders

Why AI is Your New Best Friend... and Worst Enemy in the Battle Against Phishing Scams

As AI supercharges phishing tactics, businesses must upgrade defenses beyond spotting bad grammar or sloppy emails.