![\"Billionaire](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_04GRITTINVISITBOOKERT.JPG\" "\\"Billionaire")
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Billionaire Ken Griffin speaks to students during an assembly at Booker T. Washington Senior High School on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n
Carl Juste<\/p>\n
cjuste@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Ken Griffin, the hedge fund CEO who has positioned himself as Miami\u2019s hometown billionaire, is \u201cdoubling down\u201d on South Florida.<\/p>\n
Griffin said on Tuesday in an interview with CNBC that he\u2019s planning to add hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space to the new Citadel headquarters in Brickell<\/a>.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Citadel told the Miami Herald last month that construction had begun on the planned 1,049-foot tower at 1201 Brickell Bay Dr., which will be one of Miami\u2019s tallest buildings when completed. The spokesperson did not respond to an email asking about Citadel\u2019s plans to expand its office space in Brickell.<\/p>\n The Florida-born billionaire said the decision came in response to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s proposed tax on second homes worth more than $5 million, which he promoted by posting a video shot in front of Griffin\u2019s New York penthouse, an approximately $238 million condominium that broke the record for the most expensive home ever sold in the U.S. in 2019.<\/p>\n Griffin, whose estimated net worth is more than $50 billion, would likely incur a tax bill in the millions on the Midtown Manhattan condo overlooking Central Park.<\/p>\n A Citadel executive called the video \u201cshameful\u201d in a company-wide memo, and Griffin called it \u201ccreepy and weird\u201d that the mayor recorded a video outside his home. Since the video was posted, Citadel has implied it may pull out of a planned $6 billion project in Manhattan.<\/p>\n During the CNBC interview, which took place after he spoke at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, Griffin told news anchor Sara Eisen that Citadel \u201cprobably will go through with the building\u201d in Manhattan.<\/p>\n Griffin, a major Republican donor who has teased that he may run for office one day, has been a vocal critic of Mamdani\u2019s since the democratic socialist was elected. During his remarks in Beverly Hills, Griffin said Mamdani\u2019s New York \u201cdoesn\u2019t welcome success,\u201d adding that the mayor\u2019s video and policies are \u201ctriggering the trauma\u201d he \u201cwent through in Chicago,\u201d where his firm was based until 2022.<\/p>\n When asked about Griffin\u2019s response to the video at a news conference in late April, Mamdani said he plans to work with business leaders including Griffin to bolster the city\u2019s economy. He added that he believes the tax system is \u201cfundamentally broken,\u201d citing the inequality between New York\u2019s richest and poorest residents.<\/p>\n Griffin\u2019s feud with Mamdani is not the first time Griffin has tried to use his wealth and influence to sway tax policy. When Griffin\u2019s firm was still based in Chicago, he spent more than $50 million lobbying against an Illinois ballot measure that would have replaced the state\u2019s flat income tax with a graduated income tax. The ballot measure didn\u2019t pass, but Griffin pulled Citadel out of Chicago two years later.<\/p>\n During remarks at Tuesday\u2019s conference, Griffin said it\u2019s \u201cunquestionably true\u201d his firm made the right choice relocating its headquarters to Miami.<\/p>\n Griffin has also been vocal in opposing the proposed billionaire wealth tax<\/a> in California.<\/p>\n During his interview with Eisen, Griffin referenced the Silicon Valley billionaires who purchased homes in South Florida<\/a> in recent months in response to the proposed tax. Google co-founder Larry Page, who purchased more than $170 million worth of property in Coconut Grove, sends his child to the same Miami school Griffin\u2019s children attend, he said.<\/p>\n The Citadel founder has become one of the leading voices encouraging billionaires and business leaders to set up shop in the Sunshine State. Earlier this year, Griffin and fellow billionaire Stephen M. Ross<\/a> launched an initiative to entice business leaders to South Florida, citing the state\u2019s low taxes and business-friendly policies.<\/p>\n This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 3:12 PM.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0.jpg\" "\\"0.jpg\\"")
A rendering of the planned 54-story tower in Brickell. Courtesy of Citadel <\/p>\n