Billionaire hedge fund founder Ken Griffin has finished unwinding his life in Chicago, cashing out of his last property in the city and cementing a high profile relocation to Florida. His exit is not just a personal move but a pointed verdict on the direction of a major Democratic stronghold, with implications for urban policy, tax competition and the future geography of American finance.
By selling his final Chicago home and consolidating his business and residence in Miami, Griffin has turned a years long critique of crime, taxes and governance into a concrete, billion dollar bet on a different model of city and state. The result is a case study in how one of the country’s wealthiest investors is voting with his feet, and what that means for the places he is leaving and the one he now calls home.
From Chicago power player to Florida transplant
Ken Griffin built his reputation and fortune in Chicago, where Citadel grew into one of the world’s most influential hedge funds and market makers. That long standing relationship has now given way to a clean break, with Griffin completing a move to Florida and making clear that his future, both personal and professional, lies in a state he sees as more aligned with his priorities on safety, taxes and growth. The shift is not a quiet retirement to the beach but a deliberate repositioning of a financial empire in a new political and economic environment.
Griffin’s relocation is part of a broader migration of wealth and financial talent to Florida, and he has been explicit that the move is tied to his assessment of how cities are run. He has framed Chicago as a cautionary tale and Miami as a place of optimism, using his own footprint as proof that capital will not stay put when it perceives rising risk and eroding quality of life.
Unloading the last Chicago trophy
The symbolic capstone of Griffin’s departure is the sale of his final Chicago property, a high end penthouse that once signaled his deep roots in the city’s elite. That condo, perched atop a luxury tower on North Michigan Avenue, had been his last remaining residential tie to Chicago after years of quiet divestment. With the closing of that deal, he has effectively erased his personal real estate presence in the city, turning what might have been a partial retreat into a full scale exit…