Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund at Citadel climbed double digits in 2025, navigating a volatile year marked by sharp market swings, trade tensions and a late-year rebound in risk assets.

Citadel’s flagship multistrategy Wellington fund, its largest, gained 10.2% in 2025, according to a person familiar with the firm’s returns who asked to remain anonymous as the information is private. 

The firm’s tactical trading fund, which blends equities with quantitative strategies, rose 18.6% in 2025, the person said. Citadel’s fundamental equity strategy returned 14.5%, while its global fixed income fund advanced 9.4%.

Citadel declined to comment. 

The S&P 500 locked in a 16.4% gain for the year, its third straight double-digit annual advance. That marks an impressive recovery from the rout seen in early April following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs announcement. At one point, the S&P 500 was even on the cusp of closing in bear market territory.

The hedge fund plans to return about $5 billion of profits earned this year to clients in an effort to limit capital growth, CNBC’s Leslie Picker previously reported. The move is expected to reduce assets under management to about $67 billion from roughly $72 billion.

Wellington’s long-term track record remains strong as the fund has generated an annualized return of 19% since its inception in 1990, the person said.

Citadel plans to return about $5 billion in profits earned in 2025 back to investors at the beginning of next year, according to a person familiar with the matter.  

The firm’s flagship multistrategy fund, known as Wellington, gained 9.3% in the year through last week, the person said, who asked not to be named discussing performance details. 

The profit being returned is not all that was generated in 2025, the person said, but rather, a way of constraining capital to better match what the firm sees as the opportunity set going into the new year. As such, Citadel will start 2026 with $67 billion in assets, down from the $72 billion it currently manages, the person said. 

A spokesperson for Citadel declined to comment. 

The firm does not opt for profit distributions every year, but since 2017 (and including what’s expected to be given back this year), Citadel has returned $32 billion in profit to its investors. 

Citadel has been ranked the most profitable hedge fund based on net gains since inception, according to LCH Investments. Through 2024, Citadel has generated $83 billion in net gains since it was founded in 1990. It is anticipated that number will jump to more than $88 billion when the new rankings come out in January.

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s hedge funds at Citadel have all posted positive returns during a volatile 2025, led by the tactical trading fund.

Citadel’s multistrategy Wellington fund, its largest, gained 2.5% during the first half of the year, according to a person familiar with the firm’s returns who asked to remain anonymous as the information is private. Citadel’s tactical trading fund, which combines equities and quantitative strategies, rose 6.1% during the same time, the person said.

The fundamental equity fund returned 3.1% through the end of June, while its global fixed income strategy advanced 5%, the person said.

Citadel declined to comment. The hedge fund giant had $66 billion in assets under management as of June 1.

The stock market has proven resilient in the face of President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade war and conflict in the Middle East. The S&P 500 has rebounded from a near 20% sell-off in April, going on to score a record high on Friday and again on Monday. The equity benchmark is up more than 5% year to date.

Griffin has been critical of Trump’s protectionist trade policy, calling tariffs a “painfully regressive tax” that hits working-class Americans the hardest. The billionaire also said Trump’s global trade fight risks spoiling the U.S. “brand” as well as its government bond market.

Citadel’s flagship Wellington fund rose 15.1% last year. Since Citadel’s inception in 1990, the firm produced an annualized net return of 19.2% through the end of May.

Crypto company Digital Asset said Tuesday that it’s netted $135 million in funding from a raft of major names in banking and finance.

The firm, which touts itself as a regulated crypto player, said it raised the fresh cash in a funding round co-led by DRW and Tradeweb, with Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities also investing.

The investment highlights how large financial institutions are embedding themselves in the once murky world of cryptocurrencies.

Previously associated with fraud, money laundering and other illicit activities, digital assets have become a more mainstream asset class over the years as big names like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley warmed to the space.

Just last week, JPMorgan launched its own version of a stablecoin, a deposit token called “JPMD.”

“With growing participation from global financial institutions and market participants, we expect this funding round to help us solidify our role as the backbone of digital finance,” Yuval Rooz, Digital Asset’s CEO and co-founder, told CNBC. 

Digital Asset sells a number of digital asset services to its clients, which include major Wall Street players like Goldman Sachs, Citadel and Virtu. Co-founded in 2014 by trader-turned-entrepreneur Yuval Rooz, it competes with the likes of Ripple,  R3 and Consensys.

The firm will use the new funding to advance adoption of the Canton Network. Initially developed by Digital Asset but now open-source, Canton is a public blockchain designed for financial institutions to move assets and data around while meeting regulatory and privacy requirements.

Banks and trading firms are using Canton to tokenize real-world assets such as bonds, commodities and money market funds.

“This raise will allow us to build upon the continuing momentum around the Canton Network and accelerate the onboarding of more high-quality assets, finally making blockchain’s transformative promise an institutional-scale reality,” Rooz told CNBC.

The network now supports trillions of dollars in tokenized assets, according to Digital Asset’s CEO.

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund climbed in a volatile January, according to a person familiar with the returns.

Citadel’s multistrategy flagship Wellington fund rose 1.4% in January, following a 15.1% gain in 2024, according to the person, who spoke anonymously because the performance numbers are private. All five strategies used in the fund — commodities, equities, fixed income, credit and quantitative — were positive for the month, the person said.

The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund gained 2.7% in January, while its equities fund, which uses a long/short strategy, also returned 2.7%, said the person. Meanwhile, Citadel’s global fixed-income fund returned 1.9%.

Citadel, which had $65 billion in assets under management as the year began, declined to comment.

Markets experienced violent price swings last month as investors grew wary of President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies. At the end of the month, an artificial intelligence competitor out of China called DeepSeek caused a massive sell-off in Nvidia and upended other megacap tech stocks.

The S&P 500 climbed 2.7% in January and is up 1.9% in 2025 following a stellar two-year run in 2023 and 2024. The equity benchmark scored a second consecutive annual gain above 20% last year, and the two-year gain of 53% is the best since 1997 and 1998, when it jumped nearly 66%. 

Before the new administration took office Jan. 20, Griffin criticized the steep tariffs Trump vowed to implement, saying they could result in crony capitalism.

The Citadel founder said domestic companies could enjoy a short-term benefit by having their competitors weakened. Longer term, however, tariffs do more harm to corporate America and the economy as companies lose competitiveness and productivity, Griffin said.

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s handful of hedge funds at Citadel all posted double-digit returns in 2024, led by its tactical trading strategy.

Citadel’s multistrategy Wellington fund, its largest, finished the year up 15.1%, according to a person familiar with the returns. All five strategies used in the flagship fund — commodities, equities, fixed income, credit and quantitative — were positive for the year, the person said.

The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund was the standout performer, with a 22.3% return for 2024, the person said. Citadel’s equity fund returned about 18%, while its global fixed income strategy gained 9.7%.

Citadel declined to comment. The hedge-fund giant had $66 billion in assets under management as of December.

The stock market just closed out a banner year with the S&P 500 surging 23.3%, building on a gain of 24.2% in 2023. The two-year gain of 53% is the best since the nearly 66% rally in 1997 and 1998.

Griffin recently criticized the steep tariffs President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to implement, saying crony capitalism could be a consequence.

The CEO also said he’s not focused on taking Citadel Securities public in the foreseeable future. The securities firm is a Miami-based market maker founded by the 56-year-old Florida native in 2002.

BlackRock and Citadel Securities are among investors backing a group seeking to start a new national stock exchange in Texas.

TXSE Chairman and CEO James Lee said the Dallas-headquartered group has raised $120 million with the support of more than two dozen investors.

“Texas’s booming economy and the strong economic and population growth among states in the southeast quadrant of the U.S. present incredible opportunities for businesses — and ultimately the Texas Stock Exchange,” TXSE CEO James Lee said on LinkedIn.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the endeavor earlier, saying the exchange is billing itself as a “more-CEO friendly” alternative to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq in the face of rising regulation and a “disaffection with increasing compliance costs.”

A contested Nasdaq rule requires listed companies to disclose diversity information on their board of directors. The SEC approved the plan in 2021, but it now faces a new challenge in a federal appeals court.

TXSE’s website said it will be a “fully electronic, national securities exchange that will seek registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.” The TXSE is aiming to start trading in 2025 and host listings in 2026, according to the Journal’s report.

The Dallas Morning News reported TXSE will target companies in the “southeastern quadrant of the U.S.” In an interview with the newspaper, Lee thanked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for his support and leadership.

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund rose last month as volatility made a return amid the debate about rate cuts, according to a person familiar with the returns.

Citadel’s multistrategy flagship Wellington fund climbed 1.9% in January, following a 15.3% gain last year, according to the person, who spoke anonymously because the performance numbers are private. All five strategies used in the fund — commodities, equities, fixed income, credit and quantitative — were positive for the month, the person said.

The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund gained 2.6% for the month, while its equities fund, which uses a long/short strategy, returned 2.1%, said the person. Meanwhile, Citadel’s global fixed income fund returned 1.7%.

Citadel declined to comment.

The stock market had rallied to start the year, but the momentum lately eased as hopes for rate cuts pulled back. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in late January that a March rate cut is unlikely, triggering the biggest daily loss since September for the S&P 500. The equity benchmark was up 1.6% for January.

The Citadel CEO recently spoke positively of the U.S. economy, seeing the Federal Reserve engineering a soft landing this year. He said the overall economy looks “pretty damn good” right now, with recent data indicating a solid labor market, healthy GDP growth and inflation moderating at a better pace than expected. 

The hedge fund giant started 2024 with $56 billion in assets under management.

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Billionaire investor Ken Griffin’s various hedge fund strategies at Citadel all posted double-digit returns for 2023, but they failed to beat the S&P 500.

Citadel’s multistrategy Wellington fund gained 15.3% last year, according to a person familiar with the returns. The flagship fund had enjoyed a stellar 2022 with a 38% gain, marking its best year on record.

The Miami-based firm’s tactical trading fund gained 14.8% in 2023, while its equities fund, which uses a long/short strategy, returned 11.6%, said the person who spoke anonymously because the performance numbers are private. Citadel’s global fixed income fund returned 10.9% last year, according to the person.

The stock market pulled off a surprisingly strong 2023 with the S&P 500 climbing 24% on the year. Risk assets enjoyed a big relief rally as the economy remained resilient and inflation cooled, while the Federal Reserve signaled an end to rate hikes and forecast rate cuts later this year. The market also endured a regional banking crisis as well as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

However, the volatility and the tricky macro environment made it difficult for certain hedge fund strategies to beat the market. Hedge funds on average gained just about 4.4% in 2023 through November, according to research firm HFR.

Citadel is returning all of 2023’s $7 billion in profits to investors and the firm has handed back about $25 billion to investors since 2018, the person said. The financial giant has about $58 billion in assets under management.

Citadel declined to comment.

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