Illinois’ Richest Man Moves Billion-Dollar Business to Florida over Chicago’s Extreme Crime Problems

Hedge fund man Ken Griffin — the richest man in Illinois — has announced that he is pulling his company out of Chicago and moving to Miami, Florida, because his employees have faced too much crime in the Windy City.

Griffin announced his decision on Friday via a memo to employees.

“Chicago will continue to be important to the future of the Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois,” he wrote, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and other offices around the world,” Griffin added.

But, as far as he is concerned, the city is just too dangerous for his employees. He has spoken of the city’s soaring crime rate many times in the past.

Per the Times:

In April, Griffin expanded on the crime issue in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “If people aren’t safe here, they’re not going to live here,” he said. “I’ve had multiple colleagues mugged at gunpoint. I’ve had a colleague stabbed on the way to work. Countless issues of burglary. I mean, that’s a really difficult backdrop with which to draw talent to your city from.”

The Sun-Times ruefully noted that Griffin has a point:

Public records on crime bolster Griffin’s argument about safety. Miami-Dade County, with about 2.7 million people, is close to Chicago in population, but last year had fewer than one-third of the murders, records show. The medical examiner’s office for Miami-Dade County said there were 245 murders in 2021, while Chicago police reported more than 800.

Chicago has just lost a huge, multibillion-dollar business. But it also lost one of its major political donors. Griffin has spread his millions all over the city from politics to schools.

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