At the New York Times Dealbook Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kenneth C. Griffin, who is a prominent figure in the finance world, shared insights on December 4, 2024. With Eugene Gologursky capturing the moment for Getty Images, the event marked another highlight in Griffin’s illustrious career.
In a tumultuous January, billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund showed resilience, according to an insider familiar with the figures. Citadel’s Wellington fund, known for its multistrategy approach, posted a 1.4% gain in January. This follows a remarkable 15.1% gain in 2024. Details from this anonymous source revealed that all five key strategies—commodities, equities, fixed income, credit, and quantitative—contributed positively to this uptick.
Meanwhile, the tactical trading fund of Citadel, based in Miami, saw a robust 2.7% increase in January. Its equities fund, which operates on a long/short strategy, matched this return with another 2.7% gain. Additionally, the global fixed-income fund returned an impressive 1.9%.
With $65 billion under management as the year kicked off, Citadel chose not to comment on these developments.
January saw wild market fluctuations, primarily because investors were on edge about President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies. The volatility reached a peak when an artificial intelligence competitor from China, known as DeepSeek, triggered a major sell-off in Nvidia, causing ripples across other major tech stocks.
While the S&P 500 managed to climb 2.7% in January, it marked a 1.9% increase for 2025 after enjoying an outstanding performance over two years, 2023 and 2024. The benchmark posted its second consecutive gain above 20% last year, and the two-year gain of 53% was the strongest since 1997-1998, when it soared nearly 66%.
Prior to President Trump’s administration taking charge on January 20, Griffin was vocal about his concerns over the aggressive tariffs Trump proposed. Griffin warned that these tariffs could lead to crony capitalism, where domestic companies might see a temporary advantage due to weakened competitors. However, he stressed that in the long run, such tariffs would be detrimental to corporate America and the broader economy, as they would erode competitiveness and productivity.
