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Citadel Securities
Peng Zhao runs Citadel Securities, the largest electronic market-maker handling about 25% of US equities volume.
Citadel Securities
Founded in 2002 by Ken Griffin, Citadel Securities was carved out as a separate entity from the Citadel hedge fund to focus purely on market-making and liquidity provision. The firm started by taking over the equities options market-making business and has since expanded into nearly every liquid asset class. It remains privately held, with Griffin as the majority owner, while outside investors including Sequoia Capital and Paradigm purchased a minority stake in 2022 (per The Wall Street Journal, 2022). The firm acts as a designated market-maker on the New York Stock Exchange and provides liquidity across equities, options, fixed income, currencies, and commodities. Its electronic trading platform executes over 450 million trades daily, connecting to more than 50 exchanges and trading venues globally. Key operational centers in New York, Chicago, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore support this coverage, with Miami serving as the post-2022 corporate headquarters. In 2022, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and crypto-focused Paradigm invested $1.15 billion in Citadel Securities, a transaction that valued the firm at roughly $22 billion (per Bloomberg, 2022). The same year, the firm announced the relocation of its head office from Chicago to Miami. Peng Zhao, a longtime lieutenant who joined in 2006 as a quantitative researcher, has served as CEO since 2017 and oversaw this expansion and geographic shift. Unlike investment banks that internalize order flow to profit from client spreads, Citadel Securities operates as a pure principal market-maker — it provides two-sided liquidity electronically, monetizing the bid-ask spread through technological speed and quantitative modeling rather than advisory relationships or balance-sheet gearing.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2002
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Miami
Corporate office
Miami, FL, United States
Additional offices
New York · Chicago · London · Amsterdam · Singapore
Principals
Peng Zhao
CEO
Ken Griffin
Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Is Citadel Securities part of the Citadel hedge fund?
No. Citadel Securities operates as a separate legal and operational entity from the Citadel hedge fund. Both were founded by Ken Griffin, but the market-making business was formally separated in the early 2000s and has distinct management, capitalization, and a completely different business model. Peng Zhao serves as CEO of Citadel Securities, while Griffin remains the majority owner of both firms.
How does Citadel Securities generate revenue if it doesn't charge commissions to retail clients?
Citadel Securities makes money by capturing the bid-ask spread on the orders it fills. When a retail order arrives through a broker like Robinhood or Schwab, the firm offers a price to execute the trade and earns the small difference between the buy and sell price. Because the firm processes enormous daily volume — over 450 million trades — even fractional-penny spreads generate substantial revenue at scale.
Who are the external investors in Citadel Securities?
In June 2022, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and crypto investment firm Paradigm invested $1.15 billion in Citadel Securities, becoming the first outside institutional investors in the firm's history. The investment valued the business at approximately $22 billion (per Bloomberg, 2022). Ken Griffin retains majority control.
What asset classes does Citadel Securities trade?
The firm provides liquidity across equities, equity options, fixed income (including US Treasuries and corporate bonds), currencies, and commodities. Its platform connects to more than 50 exchanges and electronic communication networks (ECNs) globally. The equities franchise remains the largest by volume, but the fixed-income and currencies businesses have grown substantially since 2020.
Does Citadel Securities pay for retail order flow?
Yes. Citadel Securities participates in the payment-for-order-flow (PFOF) model, compensating retail brokerages for directing customer equity and options orders to the firm for execution. The practice generates significant public debate, and the SEC has scrutinized PFOF arrangements, particularly following the 2021 meme-stock volatility. The firm has defended the model as delivering better retail execution prices than exchanges.
What is Citadel Securities' role on the New York Stock Exchange?
Citadel Securities serves as a designated market-maker (DMM) on the NYSE, meaning it is formally responsible for maintaining fair and orderly markets in a set of assigned listed securities. Alongside electronic market-making, DMM obligations include stepping in to provide two-sided quotes during periods of volatility or thin liquidity, a role the firm took on by acquiring the NYSE DMM business of KCG Holdings in 2016.
Where does Citadel Securities operate internationally?
The firm maintains major trading and operational hubs in New York, Chicago, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. Its electronic platform accesses over 50 venues globally across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. In 2022, it relocated its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Miami.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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