Citadel Securities
- Internships are wrapping up this week for Ken Griffin’s hedge fund and market maker.
- Citadel Securities CEO Peng Zhao and its chief people officer hosted a fireside chat with interns.
- After a company trip to the Olympics, Zhao told interns what they can learn from the star athletes.
Though the . The acceptance rate for the 11-week internship program was about 0.5% in 2023, leaner than Harvard’s 3.2% acceptance rate.
As a market maker, Citadel Securities matches buyers and sellers of a number of asset classes for its client base, which includes asset managers, banks, and hedge funds. It makes billions by using algorithms to best price trades and profit from the small differences in prices.
“I really appreciated the tiny difference between the gold medalist and the swimmers that weren’t on the podium. We’re talking about tenths and sometimes hundredths of a second,” Zhao said.
Zhao knows a thing or two about winning. In May, he told Bloomberg that the firm is set to break revenue records this year, topping its $7.5 billion in revenue in 2022.
“Like those swimmers, we often compete to be just a little bit better and faster and we take home the gold. So remember that, that’s what brought you here into this room. That’s what will bring you onto the top of the podium.”