Citadel Head Ken Griffin Says His Career's 'Wake Up Moment' Proved Everyone's 'Always Selling:' And If You Don't Like It, 'Get Over It'

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin says the secret to building any enterprise boils down to one blunt commandment: learn to sell.

What Happened: Speaking to MBA candidates at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, the billionaire hedge-fund founder recalled visiting an early backer and spotting a gift-shop plaque that read, “If we're all going to eat, someone has to sell.”

The $10 tchotchke, he told students, became his career's “wake-up moment.” “You're always selling,” Griffin said. “And if you don't like to sell, here's my advice: Get over it.”

Griffin, now worth roughly $44 billion according to Forbes, urged Gen Z entrepreneurs to exploit their youth. “When you're in your 20s, what's your worst-case scenario? It's not that bad,” he said. “I really deduced that in my 20s, I would take risks in my career. Why not? I have nothing to lose.” Rejections, he added, are inevitable but invaluable.

The 56-year-old financier also laid out the three traits he prizes in new hires: "intellect, aptitude and communication." Adaptability, he said, separates future founders from also-rans. "The entrepreneurs of any moment in time are the people that have the skill set that is relevant to solve the problems of that moment in time."

See also: Charlie Munger Said Someone Mailed Him A $50K, Saying ‘I’ll Pay To Work For You’ — He Sent It Back But Admired The Gutsy Move

Griffin credited his own hedge fund's longevity to collaboration. "Citadel is a team sport," he said. "I am so fortunate to have extraordinarily strong partners that help to create resilience because everyone has a down day, a down week, a down month."

Why It Matters: That team approach has paid off: Citadel has generated about $74 billion in net gains since 1990, making it the most profitable hedge fund on record.

Stalwarts from Silicon Valley to Wall Street keep hammering the same point. Mark Cuban tells founders to sell to customers rather than being sold to by them and reminds them that sales numbers don't lie, a mantra he says kept him rich long after his first millions rolled in.

Jeff Bezos lived that lesson in 1995, burning through 60 rejection-filled meetings before persuading 22 believers to buy 20 percent of Amazon for $1 million; he still calls that grind "the hardest thing I've ever done".

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