Citadel hedge fund moving headquarters to Miami from Chicago

[Opti]

because of crime. Or so said the first article on it that I can't seem to find again. My gut said isn't Miami kind of the crime capitol of Florida? Why would he choose there?

Do you think this guy did any research at all, or he just decided to go to DeSantis-land because he was a GOPer and thought he could get more influence there. If it really was for crime, it shouldn't have been that hard to choose something actually better. WDY think?


www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-23/ken-griffin-s-citadel-to-move-headquarters-to-miami-from-chicago

Ken Griffin is moving Citadel’s headquarters to Miami, leaving its current home of Chicago after the billionaire decried the city’s crime rate and voiced frustrations with political leadership in Illinois.



The relocation will affect both hedge fund Citadel and Citadel Securities, the market making business, firm spokesman Zia Ahmed said Thursday. It’s the first step in a multi-year process that will involve the firm building a new office in Miami, which will serve as its global headquarters.

Sure enough, one neighborhood crime rating site buts both Miami and Chicago in the same tier, giving them a 10 out of 100. Memphis TN got a zero meaning it is no safer than anywhere else in the US.


www.neighborhoodscout.com/il/chicago/crime
www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/miami/crime
www.neighborhoodscout.com/tn/memphis/crime

[Opti]

Just for grins I looked up Orlando, FL. It's worse. My guess is it's not as bad on Disney properties or at Sea World. 

www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/orlando/crime

[djAdvocate]

Southern states are notoriously more crime ridden, for reasons of opportunity.

[bookkeeper]

No state income tax in Florida.

[happyhoix]

Jul 31, 2022 11:43:02 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Southern states are notoriously more crime ridden, for reasons of opportunity.

You would think with the number of guns per capita we must have down here all the criminals would be scared to do anything illegal. 

Unless the NRA is wrong and copious guns don’t actually prevent crime? 

[Tiny]

Ken Griffin is moving Citadel’s headquarters to Miami, leaving its current home of Chicago after the billionaire decried the city’s crime rate and voiced frustrations with political leadership in Illinois.
 

It's a business move... as in Citadel got something that helps make their business more profitable (lower expenses OR the ability to better benefit the Big Income Earners) I always find it funny that people think Big Business does stuff NOT based on protecting it's business and profit.

I'm guessing Ken Griffen's Political statement was a declaration that he and his company are in the Republican supporter ranks. His mention of the "crime rate" is a shout out to Republican voters (who aren't very savvy and only follow the headlines) letting them know he's on their side and a fellow Republican. Illinois and Chicago are Democratic. Either he didn't get a good enough "financial package deal" to say in Chicago/Illinois or he got a really good "financial Package deal" from Florida/Miami to make moving there a better deal.



On an weird note... I have friends/relatives in various Southern States - and I swear their local news carries nothing but information on how terrible Illinois is... the crime rate, the taxes, how the housing market is crashing because everyone is leaving in droves, how expensive it is to live here, and on and on and on. I thought "OK, maybe I can't see the forest for the trees, maybe I'm a frog in a pot of soon to boil water. I took a look at some of the places my friends/relatives live - and I now know WHY they live in gated communities and/or exclusive communities (as in there's one road in and out.) They ain't' living in any sort of Paradise.

[Tiny]

Not to worry -  Google is moving to down town Chicago: 


www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-google-thompson-center-pritzker-20220727-qg4oi246dndrnpjp2bcgmawqne-story.html


I think this is more of a "charity" thing - as the Thompson Center building is a Fixer Upper building.   I'm glad a company with money to burn bought it and will move into it.    The building definitely has a "wow factor" with that atrium.      

I'm sure Google got a good deal to move into that particular building and I'm mildly confident the money to "Fix It Up" will materialize and it will get transformed back into a usable peice of real estate -  even if Google updates/fixes it, moves into it for a year or two and then turns around and sells it and moves out.    Long term it will be a good thing for Downtown Chicago.    

I am sure Citadel will be happy in it's new building in Miami  (I hope it's built far enough away from the ocean so that the rising ocean levels don't effect it and I hope it's built to withstand multiple powerful hurricanes  I would expect the coasts of Florida to experience stronger and more hurricanes going forward).   I'm hoping they aren't doing some sort of Insurance "game".      



(FWIW:   my suburb had a "historic" building in a so so location -  a famous sports figure got sucked into buying it, updating the building, and transforming it into a restaurant -  all within the guidelines for the historic requirements.   the restaurant went belly up quickly once all the work was done - and it bounced around between owners - but has been under one restaurant name and ownership for the last 5 years or so... it doesn't seem to be a community problem (parking, parties, bad neighbor) and it seems to be profitable for the owners.    I'm sure the famous sports figure perhaps got to use it some sort of "loss" write off   and my suburb got to keep it's historic building which was transformed into a usable piece of real estate.       for the record - my suburb sank some money into this endeavor- some houses/apartment buildings were purchased and demolished to make parking and additional space for new retail/dining (another small restaurant was built -  the suburb paid for infrastructure and pushed thru all the zoning changes and what not to get it going...   I imagine something similiar is happening with the local government, Google, and the Thompson Building - some you scratch my back, I scratch yours - which results in a useful piece of real estate going forward. )     

[Ryan]

I read a book a few years back that touched on the history of Citadel.  I'm almost certain that Ken Griffin is originally from Florida and his original investors wanted him setup in Chicago to keep an eye on him (he was pretty young I believe).  I'm assuming he never wanted to be in Chicago, but he's using politics as the reason.  I wouldn't be surprised if the current mayor pushed him over the edge.  She's a disaster.

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2022 11:55:25 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Ken Griffin is moving Citadel’s headquarters to Miami, leaving its current home of Chicago after the billionaire decried the city’s crime rate and voiced frustrations with political leadership in Illinois.
 

It's a business move... as in Citadel got something that helps make their business more profitable (lower expenses OR the ability to better benefit the Big Income Earners) I always find it funny that people think Big Business does stuff NOT based on protecting it's business and profit.

I'm guessing Ken Griffen's Political statement was a declaration that he and his company are in the Republican supporter ranks. His mention of the "crime rate" is a shout out to Republican voters (who aren't very savvy and only follow the headlines) letting them know he's on their side and a fellow Republican. Illinois and Chicago are Democratic. Either he didn't get a good enough "financial package deal" to say in Chicago/Illinois or he got a really good "financial Package deal" from Florida/Miami to make moving there a better deal.



On an weird note... I have friends/relatives in various Southern States - and I swear their local news carries nothing but information on how terrible Illinois is... the crime rate, the taxes, how the housing market is crashing because everyone is leaving in droves, how expensive it is to live here, and on and on and on. I thought "OK, maybe I can't see the forest for the trees, maybe I'm a frog in a pot of soon to boil water. I took a look at some of the places my friends/relatives live - and I now know WHY they live in gated communities and/or exclusive communities (as in there's one road in and out.) They ain't' living in any sort of Paradise.

[djAdvocate]

i love Chicago.  it is the only place in the Midwest that i would even consider living in.  i am not sure how much time i have spent there, but it is probably upwards of six months at this point.  i know the city very well.