The Only Thing Standing Between Ken Griffin And Chinese Dominance Is A $100 Million House

Now that he’s all but cornered the U.S. securities market, Ken Griffin is looking for a new land to conquer—and that land will be China. Citadel Securities already has a beachhead in Shanghai, and the firm just spent almost $100 million to make one of the last significant obstacles to Sino-Citadel go away.

Citadel Securities has big expansion plans and has set its sights on prying open the trillion-dollar financial markets in China, the world's second-largest economy. If history is a lesson, working with the Chinese government won't be easy (witness recent U.S.-China trade tension), but it's likely to pay off, given that the Asia-Pacific region is already Citadel Securities' second-biggest market, behind the U.S.

There is, of course, another matter. It’s not coronavirus—Griffin and Ray Dalio have already fixed that for substantially less than $100 million. But it will cost $100 million—for a suitably magnificent place for Ken to rest his head.

For Citadel, it’s full speed ahead in China [Crain’s Chicago Business]
Citadel Securities Agrees to $97 Million Settlement in China [Bloomberg]