Citadel founder Ken Griffin has long been one of Wall Street’s biggest — and most feared — customers. So when rumors started circulating during the crisis that his hedge fund firm was talking to the Feds about a bailout, Griffin held an impromptu conference call in October 2008 to reassure investors that his firm was not about to follow Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy.
Although Citadel’s biggest funds tumbled 55 percent that year, they recovered smartly in 2009, up 59 percent through November. Griffin, 41, is now looking to capitalize on the seismic shifts on Wall Street by launching an investment bank. In November, Citadel Securities underwrote its first debt offering — $500 million in senior notes for chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices.
