- Billionaire Ken Griffin, a key GOP donor, spoke Tuesday at a conference hosted by UBS outside Miami.
- Griffin, the founder of $65 billion hedge fund Citadel, was critical of the new administration’s tariffs.
- Elon Musk’s DOGE has his full support, though, and he thanked Musk “from the bottom of my heart.”
Ken Griffin made sure to seek out a camera before answering the question.
Griffin — the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel and a key GOP donor — was asked about the work of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, which has angered members of Congress on both sides of the aisles with its pause on funding projects.
While staring at the camera filming the UBS Financial Services conference in Key Biscayne, Florida, Griffin thanked Musk “from the bottom of my heart.”
“We need to take back the reins of government from the bureaucrats who only know how to spend our money,” said Griffin, referring to corporate leaders who have decided to shift their focus from the private sector to government work like Musk.
While Griffin said he doesn’t agree with every move Musk and the DOGE team have made, “As a taxpayer, I’m so appreciative.”
“Is he breaking a lot of glass? Absolutely. But he doesn’t have a lot of time,” Griffin said.
Still, Griffin — who was critical of President Donald Trump before and during the Republican primaries but ended up voting for him in the 2024 general election — is not a fan of every move the new administration has made.
He told the moderator, UBS’ president of the Americas, Rob Karofsky, that the “core promise they need to deliver on” is economic growth in the US to address the growing national debt and the entitlements promised to soon-to-be retirees.
Tariffs are an impediment to that growth, he said, and just the “bombastic rhetoric” has already done damage.
“It sears into the minds of CEOs and policymakers that we can’t depend on the United States as a trading partner,” he said, pushing companies to explore their options beyond the US.
Tariffs also limit the competition for domestic companies, allowing them to become complacent when countries like China are leading in many industries, especially as it relates to technological advancements around artificial intelligence. He hopes DeepSeek is a “wake-up call” to the US and policymakers.
“Tariffs are what you do in the death throes of a nation,” he said, as it “dulls” the competitive edge companies have developed over the years to beat their peers.
It all adds up to uncertainty that has both allies and rivals wondering what the country will do. Even if tariffs eventually get sanded down or are nixed altogether, the volatility has “a permanent and adverse effect,” Griffin said.
“That uncertainty, that curtails growth,” he said.
