{"id":308847,"date":"2024-01-31T14:54:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T20:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=308847"},"modified":"2024-02-03T13:09:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T19:09:21","slug":"citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/","title":{"rendered":"Citadel Founder Ken Griffin Says Casinos are a Losing Idea for Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Griffin, Citadel’s founder and co-chief investment officer, believes Florida is already on the right track, and more casinos could derail the state\u2019s impressive economic trajectory.<\/p>\n

\"Ken
Citadel founder Ken Griffin. He opposes casino expansion in Florida. (Image: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a new op-ed for the Miami Herald<\/em>, Griffin, whose hedge fund is one of the world\u2019s largest, called new casino gaming expansion legislation<\/a> before the Florida legislature a \u201cthreat to our shared prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

There are approximately 20 gaming venues in the state, with Hard Rock-branded properties operated by the Seminole Tribe accounting for a plurality. Caesars Entertainment runs Harrah\u2019s Pompano, and other casinos are strewn across South Florida.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As Griffin noted, in 2018, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative stating casino gaming expansion in the state must be confirmed by voters, not politicians. Senate Bill 1054 and House Bill 1127 currently before those chambers amount to legislative gimmickry aimed at \u201csidestepping voters,\u201d opined the billionaire.<\/p>\n

Griffin’s Unique Perspective<\/h2>\n

Though not mentioned in his piece for the Herald<\/em>, Griffin has an interesting perspective on the issue of some jurisdictions turning to casinos to generate jobs and bolster government coffers.<\/p>\n

For decades, Citadel was based in Chicago. But in 2022, Griffin decided to move the hedge fund to Miami after one of his employees was held up at gunpoint on their way to get coffee in the Windy City. Illinois, including Chicago<\/a>, has increasingly turned to casinos to shore up the state\u2019s ailing finances and those of some cities. It\u2019s a gambit Griffin doesn\u2019t support.<\/p>\n

Too often, local casinos earn a majority of their profits from residents with gambling problems. This leads to broken lives, shattered families and higher crime rates in the community,\u201d he wrote in the Herald<\/em>. \u201cOne can see the damage across numerous metrics. For example, nearby home values are reduced by the opening of casinos, according to the National Association of Realtors.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Griffin is a longtime donor to Republican candidates, putting him at odds with policymakers in deep blue Illinois. Crime and quality of life appeared to be the motivations for moving Citadel to Florida. In the process, Illinois lost one of its biggest individual payers of income tax, along with a slew of highly compensated Citadel staffers who moved to Miami.<\/p>\n

Florida Alluring for Casinos<\/h2>\n

As the third-largest — and one of the fastest-growing states — Florida is undoubtedly compelling to casino operators.\u00a0 That’s particularly in those areas<\/a> in which the companies could potentially establish new gaming venues without butting heads with the Seminoles.<\/p>\n

Some gaming companies may be shrewd enough to consider other parts of Florida. But ongoing attempts are to bring a casino resort to the Miami area. For example, Fontainebleau Miami Beach<\/a> owner Jeffrey Soffer has donated heavily to Florida Republicans, though it\u2019s widely known the residents of Miami Beach don\u2019t want a casino.<\/p>\n

\n

That\u2019s where Griffin could flex his financial muscle. He\u2019s worth an estimated $37.2 billion. It\u2019s possible — though he didn’t mention anything to this effect — that he could pledge to support a 2028 White House bid by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). That’s if the governor opposes casino expansion in the state. Those are to-be-determined factors, but it\u2019s clear Griffin doesn\u2019t want new gaming venues in South Florida.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAllowing casinos to harm thriving communities and undermine Florida families is like willingly dumping toxic waste into the Everglades,\u201d he concluded in the Herald<\/em>. \u201cCasinos are a bad bet for South Florida. We need to defeat this reckless legislation, defend our personal rights as voters, and protect Florida\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ken Griffin, Citadel’s founder and co-chief investment officer, believes Florida is already on the right track, and more casinos could derail the state\u2019s impressive economic trajectory. In a new op-ed for the Miami Herald, Griffin, whose hedge fund is one of the world\u2019s largest, called new casino gaming expansion legislation before the Florida legislature a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":308849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,61,86438,13592,86436],"tags":[81897,81901,86457,81895,86509],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCitadel Founder Griffin Doesn't Want More Florida Casinos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Citadel Founder Griffin Says Casinos Are Losing Idea for Florida.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Citadel Founder Griffin Doesn't Want More Florida Casinos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Citadel Founder Griffin Says Casinos Are Losing Idea for Florida.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-31T20:54:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-03T19:09:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/\",\"name\":\"Citadel Founder Griffin Doesn't Want More Florida Casinos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-31T20:54:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-03T19:09:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Citadel Founder Griffin Says Casinos Are Losing Idea for Florida.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427,\"caption\":\"Citadel founder Ken Griffin. His hedge fund boosted its stake in Sphere Entertainment. (Image: Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Citadel Founder Ken Griffin Says Casinos are a Losing Idea for Florida\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Citadel Founder Griffin Doesn't Want More Florida Casinos","description":"Citadel Founder Griffin Says Casinos Are Losing Idea for Florida.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Citadel Founder Griffin Doesn't Want More Florida Casinos","og_description":"Citadel Founder Griffin Says Casinos Are Losing Idea for Florida.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-01-31T20:54:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-03T19:09:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/","name":"Citadel Founder Griffin Doesn't Want More Florida Casinos","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-31T20:54:54+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-03T19:09:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"Citadel Founder Griffin Says Casinos Are Losing Idea for Florida.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/KG2.jpg","width":640,"height":427,"caption":"Citadel founder Ken Griffin. His hedge fund boosted its stake in Sphere Entertainment. (Image: Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/citadel-founder-griffin-doesnt-want-more-florida-casinos\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Citadel Founder Ken Griffin Says Casinos are a Losing Idea for Florida"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/","https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308847"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309330,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308847\/revisions\/309330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}