- Ken Griffin's $76 billion Citadel has rehired Matt Giannini, two people familiar with the matter say.
- Giannini had spent less than a year at Walleye, where he was the COO for the firm's stockpicking unit.
- This will be Giannini's third stint at Citadel, which is fighting for top investors in the industry's talent war.
Third time's the charm.
Matt Giannini, a well-known recruiter in the hedge fund industry, is returning to Ken Griffin's $76 billion Citadel for his third stint, two people familiar with the matter told Business Insider.
"We're pleased to welcome Matt back to Citadel. We expect him to materially contribute to our ambitious plans to continue growing our Equities business," a spokesperson told Business Insider. A person close to the Miami-based manager said he would start in 2027.
Giannini is joining from Walleye Capital, where he was the chief operating officer of the firm's equity long-short business for less than a year.
Walleye declined to comment. Giannini did not respond to a request for comment.
He joined Walleye from Citadel as the smaller manager grew its leadership bench, including fellow Citadel alum Tom DeAngelis, now Walleye's president, and Anil Gondi, who joined as head of equity long-short from Balyasny and oversaw Giannini.
Giannini's departure from Citadel in 2024 was one of the biggest hedge fund personnel moves that year, as the war for top investors was intensifying, and those who had succeeded in recruiting the best talent were in high demand.
After Giannini's 2024 exit, Citadel lost a number of executives focused on recruiting investing talent in the 12 months that followed, Business Insider previously reported. The firm's chief people officer, Sjoerd Gehring, left earlier this year as well.
The manager has since replenished its business development ranks with promotions and external hires, including individuals from firms such as Verition, BlackRock, and JPMorgan, though it has not yet named a replacement for Gehring.
His first stint at Citadel, which began in 2007, ended when he started at multistrategy rival Balyasny in 2012.At Dmitry Balyasny's eponymous firm, Giannini eventually became global cohead of business development before being rehired by Citadel for the first time in late 2018.
By the time he left Citadel for a second time, in 2024, he rose to the rank of global head of equities business development.
The post Citadel's latest big hire: A top investor recruiter who's joining for the third time appeared first on Business Insider
