Ken Griffin’s move to relocate his hedge fund firm Citadel to Miami has been a big loss for Chicago's business community — but his departure has also left a hole in the city’s philanthropic sector.
While his giving in Illinois totals more than $650 million, including the $130 million he donated to 40 Chicago organizations as he departed for Miami, Griffin’s philanthropic priorities and donations appear to have now shifted to Florida. His donations there now total over $300 million, with the majority landing since his move in 2022.
With his philanthropic focus now centered on his new home in Florida, it remains to be seen whether the Chicago spigot has been shut off and, if so, who will fill the void.
“When a donor of [Griffin's] scale leaves, there is no doubt a big hole that is created by their absence,” said Michael Moody, a professor of philanthropic studies at Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. “Both in terms of money and leadership.”
The scale of Griffin’s Illinois donations has been large and wide-reaching, often breaking records at nonprofits and landing his name on buildings. During his three-plus decades in Chicago, he donated to educational, cultural, medical and civic organizations.
The $125 million donation to the Museum of Science & Industry is the largest single gift in the South Side museum’s history. The museum will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry this year. He donated at least $150 million to the University of Chicago’s storied economics department, which now bears his name.
Other Chicago institutions that have received donations from him have included the Art Institute of Chicago; the Chicago Public Education Fund, a nonprofit that invests in the development and retention of principals in the Chicago Public Schools; and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, among others.
“He has truly left a wonderful and lasting legacy here in Chicago,” said Chevy Humphrey, president and CEO of MSI.
But since trading the Windy City for South Beach, his donations in Florida have exploded and now eclipse over $300 million in the state. The majority of them have landed in the past few years, leaving his former home dry during that time.
In March, he gave $50 million to the Miami Neuroscience Institute at Baptist Health and another $50 million to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Both institutions will now bear his name.
Other large gifts in Florida over the past two years have included $20 million to Miami Dade College, $25 million to the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and, announced Thursday, $9 million to bring a University of Chicago math tutoring program to public school students in Miami, among other donations.
Whether it's a change in his philanthropic giving or a honeymoon phase with his new home, Florida is now receiving a lot of Griffin’s philanthropic attention, a privilege Chicago used to claim title to.
Moody says it is not uncommon for prominent donors to move and have their donations decrease in their former city. “There's no doubt that there's going to be less giving in Chicago for him than if he had stayed in the city,” he said.
The question is when will his donations return, and how big will they be when they do, all which is complicated by Griffin's public breakup with the city. Before announcing his departure from Chicago, he made frequent complaints about rising crime levels in the city and high taxes in the state. He once famously described the city’s violent crime as “like Afghanistan on a good day.”
But Moody, while acknowledging Griffin’s unique and complicated relationship with Chicago, believes his philanthropic dollars may someday return here.
“He has his name on buildings, and I think there's always going to be a residue of his giving in Chicago, which will keep him engaged in the city,” Moody said.
LOSS OF LEADERSHIP
While a prolific donor, Griffin was also a prominent leader in the philanthropic community and a board member of a long list of organizations.
“He would not only donate large amounts, but he was a public and civic leader,” said John A. Canning Jr., chairman emeritus at the investment firm Madison Dearborn Partners, who often served on boards with Griffin. “That loss is a tragedy for the city of Chicago.”
Griffin served on the boards of the University of Chicago, the Chicago Public Education Fund, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, to name a few. As a spokesperson for him previously told Crain’s Chicago Business, a sibling publication of Crain Currency, "Given that he and his family have moved, he unfortunately will no longer be able to serve on boards in Chicago.”
Heather Anichini, president and CEO of the Chicago Public Education Fund, said losing even one board member is hard, but especially one with Griffin’s influence.
“Ken’s loss is felt, both in terms of the time and leadership, and in terms of the dollars,” she said.
CHICAGO STILL BENEFITS
While much of the discussion has been about what Griffin’s absence has meant for Chicago, Roseanna Ander, founding executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, an independent research organization, wants to emphasize the lasting impact of what he has already donated.
“The good news about the donations he made are that they are things that continue to have an impact in perpetuity and beyond the year the gift was made,” she said. “There’s no way to see his departure as anything other than a loss for Chicago, but his gifts continue to pay dividends for Chicago.”
Ander points to the work her team is continuing to do with the Community Safety Leadership Academies, which aims to educate police and community violence intervention leaders. The program, which Ander said will continue over at least the next five years, is funded by a $25 million Griffin donation.
In addition to donations to aid and enhance Chicago’s museums, he has donated around $15 million to enhance the city’s Lakefront Trail, helping fund separate paths for cyclists and pedestrians along the 18-mile stretch.
“The legacy of his gifts will continue to reap benefits for Chicago,” Ander said.