Ken Griffin
Lucy Nicholson | Reuters
Ken Griffin, the billionaire CEO of hedge fund Citadel, defended his $ 2 billion investment in Melvin Capital short seller Gabe Plotkin last month at the height of GameStop.
“No, I think Gabe Plotkin is one of the best investors of his generation,” Griffin told Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC on Friday during Squawk Box.
The comment answered a question from Sorkin about whether Griffin’s investment was a mistake, as it created questions about Griffin’s motivations in defending Plotkin in the midst of his battle with Reddit retailers pumping shares of Griffin. GameStop.
“If I had to run my business with the possibility of a dementia conspiracy theory popping up at any moment, I would have no business,” Griffin said.
In addition to managing the Citadel hedge fund, Griffin is the founder of the dominant Citadel Securities market, which manages approximately 40% of the flow of retail stock orders in the U.S., including brokers such as the free trade Robinhood app.
Following the news of Citadel and Point72’s investment, social media platforms abounded in speculation about Griffin’s possible role in the development of the drama. In a now deleted tweet, Twitch co-founder Justin Kan said he “had a tip” that Griffin could have participated in the Robinhood Pass to restrict access to GameStop bulls.
Robinhood later explained that it was his clearinghouse, a backstage market player called Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, which had demanded billions of dollars in collateral to support GameStop trades, forcing the brokerage to reduce l access of its users could even raise capital.
In an extensive interview, Griffin also said there was “no doubt” that the amount of short sales will be reduced thanks to the power that Reddit-powered retailers demonstrated with GameStop.