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CME Group's Center for Innovation today announced that Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin is the 15th recipient of the CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award. CME Group presented the award at the 12th annual Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Fla., this week.
The award recognizes Griffin for his significant contributions to the financial industry. Griffin got his start trading convertible bonds from his Harvard dorm room and founded Citadel in 1990, shortly after graduating. Today, Citadel is considered one of the most respected and successful investment firms in the world, managing over $32 billion in capital for its partners, which include government investment programs, pension funds, endowments and foundations.
The CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award strives to celebrate innovation that, through practical application, has had a positive impact on the economic well-being of individuals, industries or nations. This award honors an individual or group whose innovative ideas, products or services have created significant change to markets, commerce or trade.
"Ken Griffin is a true pioneer in the field of investment management," said Leo Melamed, CME Group Chairman Emeritus and co-founder of the Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award. "His groundbreaking achievements have shaped the way we view investing today, and his significant contributions to economic research and philanthropy will continue to have an impact on our future."
Griffin is a prominent philanthropist and has given more than $1 billion in support of educational, cultural, and health causes that drive community engagement and improvement.
The CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award recipient, formerly known as the Fred Arditti Innovation Award, is chosen annually by members of the Competitive Markets Advisory Council (CMAC). The award's namesakes are Leo Melamed, in recognition of his revolutionary achievements in introducing financial futures instruments to the world in 1972; and former CME Group Chief Economist Fred Arditti, who was instrumental in developing the IMM index upon which CME Group's Eurodollar futures contract, the world's most actively traded futures contract, was based. Past recipients of the award can be found on the CME Group Center for Innovation website.
