Citadel Securities valued at $22 billion after Sequoia, Paradigm take stake
Reuters
Published Jan 11, 2022 08:44AM ET
Updated Jan 11, 2022 10:56AM ET
(Reuters) - Citadel Securities said on Tuesday venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and crypto-focused investment company Paradigm had made a $1.15 billion minority investment in it, giving the market maker founded by billionaire Ken Griffin a valuation of nearly $22 billion.
The funding round was led by Sequoia. Alfred Lin, a partner at Sequoia, will join the board of Citadel Securities, the company said.
The two-decade old company provides trading services to asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds. Its institutional business serves over 1,600 clients.
The Chicago-based company has benefited from a surge in trading activity, helped in part by retail investors flocking to popular mobile trading apps since the pandemic began.
Citadel Securities was subjected to a close scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and regulators, after Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) and several other brokers restricted trading in shares of GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) in January last year.
The restrictions, which drew the ire of some retail investors, followed a stunning rally that sparked a "short squeeze", leading to billions of dollars in losses for Wall Street hedge funds.
Citadel, the $43 billion hedge fund, had made a $2 billion investment in Melvin Capital at the time, after the latter, which had been short on GameStop since 2014, suffered massive losses.
Citadel Securities has denied any involvement in the decision made by the brokers.
The company has a presence in over 50 countries, and plans to use the latest capital to expand globally.
(This story corrects to say hedge fund Citadel invested in Melvin Capital, not Citadel Securities, in paragraph 7.)
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.