Citadel CEO Ken Griffin speaks throughout the Semafor World Economy Summit 2025 at Conrad Washington on April 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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Citadel rebuked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for singling out Chief Executive Officer Ken Griffin in a push for a brand new pied-à-terre tax, escalating a public dispute over how aggressively New York ought to goal rich non-resident householders.
In a social media video filmed exterior Griffin’s residence at 220 Central Park South and timed to tax day, Mamdani unveiled a proposed levy that might impose an annual surcharge on one- to three-family properties, condominiums and co-ops valued above $5 million when the proprietor’s major residence is exterior New York City.
Citadel denounced the mayor’s move with Chief Operating Officer Gerald Beeson saying in an inner memo obtained by CNBC that concentrating on Griffin confirmed “ignorance and disdain” towards contributors to the metropolis’s financial system.
“It is shameful that he used Ken’s name as the example of those who supposedly aren’t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending,” Beeson wrote. “In doing so, the mayor has once again manifested the ignorance and disdain of the elite political class towards those who have been consistently committed to building one of the greatest cities in the world.”
Beeson stated Citadel’s principals and staff — together with non-residents — have paid almost $2.3 billion in New York metropolis and state taxes over the previous 5 years. He additionally pointed to the firm’s deliberate redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, a mission anticipated to generate about 6,000 development jobs and greater than 15,000 everlasting roles, with spending projected to exceed $6 billion.
Griffin moved Citadel headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022 and he has made Florida his major residence.
The memo additionally highlighted that almost 200 Citadel staff serve on boards of New York charitable establishments, whereas Griffin himself has directed roughly $650 million in philanthropic donations to the metropolis.
“We understand that our hard work and success will, on occasion, make us targets for political rhetoric. But it should not diminish the pride we take in building firms that will continue to help New York City thrive for decades ahead,” Beeson wrote.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the memo earlier Thursday.
