Kenneth C. Griffin - Early Career

Early Career

Kenneth Cordele Griffin was born in 1968 in Daytona Beach, Florida and grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, where he attended Boca Raton Community High School. While still at Harvard University, he started two funds from his dorm room, and he claims that in between classes he would make trades. He even installed a special satellite link to his dorm to acquire real-time market data. He got his first fund with $265,000, including money from his grandmother. This allowed him to profit off shorting the 1987 stock market crash.

After graduating with a degree in economics in 1989, he won the attention of an investor named Frank C. Meyer, founder of Glenwood Capital. Meyer was amazed at Griffin's success and rate of return with his investments (which at the time were largely based on convertible bonds), and provided a relatively small investment for Griffin to invest ($1 million). Griffin exceeded Meyer's expectations and according to the The New York Times Meyer made 70%. As word of his strong performance spread, investors were persuaded to back Griffin. In a video interview on Opalesque.TV Meyer describes the keys of seeding new managers, as he did with Griffin. He says that all managers have strengths and weaknesses.