By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ken Griffin, the world’s most successful hedge fund manager in terms of earnings, has already donated more than $2 billion to charity during his lifetime and on Wednesday laid out a roadmap for his future philanthropic giving to find faster solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
Griffin, who laid the foundations for Citadel in his Harvard dormitory, launched Griffin Catalyst (GriffinCatalyst.org), a platform that illustrates how he thinks about giving and showcases his partner organizations and how they have put his money to work.
Already a big donor to schools and universities, Griffin said his giving will focus on six areas: Education, Science & Medicine, Upward Mobility, Freedom & Democracy, Enterprise & Innovation and Communities.
Noting how he experienced the American Dream personally by attending Harvard and being able to found his firm, Griffin said “Through Griffin Catalyst, I look forward to continuing this work, tearing down barriers and advancing solutions in the pursuit of improving people’s lives.”
Citadel, which invests $61 billion for clients, became the most successful hedge fund of all time last year when it earned $16 billion, boosting its 54-year old founder’s net worth to $35 billion, according to Forbes.
Earlier this year Griffin donated $300 million to his alma mater. Previously, he led a coalition that ensured 100,000 Chicago school children had access to the Internet during the pandemic. He also worked with the U.S. State Department and other partners to help bring some 800 Americans back to the United States from Wuhan, China, at the start of the pandemic and he worked with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to drive a faster review process for therapeutics and fund early Covid 19 vaccine development.
Early in his career, Griffin also donated time tutoring Chicago children in math.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by David Gregorio)
