KENNETH C. GRIFFIN

It is often constructive to meet with a candidate for a particular office, but I believe what is most important is the candidate's track record.

Investors who find the best businesses to put their money behind are rewarded for their research.

I don't feel I'm at liberty to speak about the actions of any one CEO. That's not fair; given CEOs have duties to their shareholders.

Almost all politicians are able to have a great one-on-one meeting. But I'm not interested in the candidate who can have a great meeting. I'm interested in the person who can make the right decisions.

We don't have a good legal justification for breaking up the banking system. But if I could wave a magic wand, I'd break up the banking system.

When a company creates a product that directly or indirectly adversely impacts the health of people, that product must be regulated. The process by which it's created must be regulated. No company has the right to injure people. No company.

It's a winner-take-all world.

I want tension in my business. Tension creates change. Change is necessary to evolve and prosper. I am never satisfied.

I think if you look at the realm we're discussing, which is the political realm, I think it would be impossible to find an action by any politician intended to specifically favor either my firm or myself.

So many of the great thought leaders that have shaped economics - Gary Becker, Milton Friedman - what an unbelievable success story they've had in their field.

Don't act like a bank unless you are a bank. That was a really big lesson learned from 2008.

I'm the CEO; I'm the one who should be looking out for risk.

It's important for me to be No. 1.

In our firm's earliest days, our understanding of the power of great software engineering and quantitative analytics helped Citadel stand out.

The success story at Citadel has been written by a number of people who have backgrounds from the University of Chicago.

It drives people nuts that I take them to McDonald's all the time.

Should we think about separating the investment banks from the commercial banks, a new Glass-Steagall? I would be really excited to see that. I think it would be great for the economy.

We think that excellence in investing comes from focus.

If you think about the amount of critical thinking that has come into the field of economics, two universities have dominated the landscape in my life: Chicago and Harvard.

I have an economics degree from Harvard.

I set up my own trading center in my Cabot dorm room... with my computer, my fax machine, and my telephone.

The key to our business, it's a lot of research.

It is not my belief that we need greater government regulation of hedge funds with respect to the systemic risk they create.

Gambling is entertainment... Financial markets, what one often refers to as speculation, is really the force by which we move capital to the best and highest use.

If I could wave a magic wand, I'd break up the banking system.