Billionaire sounds death knell for Democrat city as he finally sells entire property portfolio and moves to sunny Florida

A billionaire’s exodus from Chicago is about to be finalized with the sale of his last property in the city, as he moves his assets to South Beach.

Ken Griffin, CEO and founder of Citadel Advisors, relocated his company’s headquarters from the Midwest city to Miami three years ago and appears to be finalizing the move with the sale of his $12.5million condo.

Griffin’s final piece of real estate at 800 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago has gone under contract, his spokesperson told Bloomberg.

The billionaire decided to drop the price by $3.25million following it being taken off the market in July.

If the sale of the ‘crown jewel’ of Park Tower is completed, it will follow the pattern of the majority of his properties, where he sold for less than he paid.

Griffin purchased the full-floor duplex penthouse for $6.9million in 2000 which today is worth around $12million.

The $48billion man began selling off his portfolio of Chicago properties before Citadel’s relocation to Florida, but has since relinquished the rest of his homes in the Democrat city.

Ken Griffin, CEO and founder of Citadel Advisors, relocated his company’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022

Griffin’s final sale is of the ‘crown jewel’ of Park Tower, full-floor duplex penthouse for $12.5million

Citadel’s only remnant of its offices in Chicago is its former headquarters at 131 South Dearborn.

Griffin told the outlet that his company planned to build a tower in the Brickell neighborhood, which would cost around $2.5 billion.

‘South Florida has something that the rest of the world wants. It has oceanfront property in a state with extraordinarily safe streets, great schools, strong sense of community, great cultural institutions. Miami is one of the most vibrant cities in the world,’ said Griffin.

He added that it is hard to beat the real estate returns in South Florida over the past seven years.

The billionaire also has plans in New York to build a 62-story skyscraper.

Griffin told Bloomberg in 2023 that he believed Miami could someday surpass New York as the financial capital of the world: ‘We’ll see how big Wall Street South becomes.’

The $48billion man began constructing a massive compound next to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

A rendering of what Griffins plans to build in Florida – a home worth $1billion

‘We’re on Brickell Bay, and maybe in 50 years it will be Brickell Bay North how we refer to New York in finance.’

He added that the density of talent, both in financial services and writ large in New York City, is among the top in the world.

‘Having said that, Miami I think represents the future of America — incredibly vibrant economy,’ Griffin continued.

‘This is a state that has done an incredible job of electing people into office who care about safe streets, good schools and good jobs. And it’s really great to be in a state where those are the focuses of your leaders,’ he said.

The billionaire said he had been committed to Chicago for 30 years and had seen his city devolve into anarchy under poor governance.