Quotes from Kenneth C. Griffin

Long ago, I had to sort of learn to have a thick skin to read some of the things you read in the papers and to also keep my ego in check when you read some really flattering things in the papers.

Speaker Ryan's vision for a confident America, both at home and abroad, reflects his thoughtful leadership.

In our first decade, I interviewed about five thousand people in pursuit of the talent that would create our future. As our success grew, we became known across the four corners of finance not just for our outstanding returns, but also for our outstanding people.

Every organization has two choices. Choice one is to grow. Choice two is to die. If you decide not to grow, it's a clear-cut message to talented people that it's time to leave.

In some industries, we refer to risk taking as 'research and development.' At financial institutions, we often take risk by investing in securities.

I have an economics degree from Harvard.

The idea that the largest banks in the world would simultaneously fail, need government support, government guarantees, and/or government intervention to survive was not in my range of realistic scenarios.

I get very worried that people that are buying bitcoins don't really understand what they're participating in other than the headline stories that it keeps going higher and 'I want to make sure I don't miss this opportunity to make some money.'

For choice, I prefer not to be a public figure. I don't have Tom Cruise's good looks. I don't have a need to be on the front page of fill-in-the-blank.

It is often constructive to meet with a candidate for a particular office, but I believe what is most important is the candidate's track record.

Citadel's Capital Market division plays an important role in our nation's financial markets. Our broker-dealer is the largest market maker in options in the United States, executing approximately 30 percent of all equity option trades daily.

I set up my own trading center in my Cabot dorm room... with my computer, my fax machine, and my telephone.

One of the great advantages that I had in my career is I started trading 24 hours a day in my early 20s, and I had to learn to delegate to people.

Walk across any of the trading floors - they are full of 29-year-old kids. The capital markets of America are controlled by a bunch of right-out-of-business-school young guys who haven't really seen that much.

The investment banks should either choose to be regulated as banks or should arrange to conduct their affairs to not require the stop-gap support of the Federal Reserve.

I have known Senator Rubio for a number of years, and he is an inspiring, courageous, and bold leader who embodies the American dream of freedom and equal opportunity for all.

I did not forsee a day where the government had to intervene to bail out basically everybody.

Our financial markets work best when they are competitive, fair, and transparent.

We think that excellence in investing comes from focus.

Should we think about separating the investment banks from the commercial banks, a new Glass-Steagall? I would be really excited to see that. I think it would be great for the economy.

We don't have a good legal justification for breaking up the banking system.

I had to learn to trust people, and I realized that success was going to be born in hiring really bright people - very self-motivated, very able to make good judgment calls day in and day out.

In our firm's earliest days, our understanding of the power of great software engineering and quantitative analytics helped Citadel stand out.

I've often thought of successful entrepreneurs as individuals who have just the right expertise - at just the right moment - to solve the emerging problems of their time.