Matt Giannini returns to Citadel for third tour of duty

Giannini is slated to rejoin the Miami-based manager in 2027, according to sources familiar with the hiring process. A Citadel spokesperson confirmed the appointment, noting that his return is expected to bolster the firm’s aggressive expansion of its Equities business. He arrives from Walleye Capital, where he served as chief operating officer of the equity long-short division for less than a year.

His career path reveals a deep entanglement with the industry’s top multistrategy players. After an initial run at Citadel starting in 2007, he moved to Balyasny in 2012, eventually rising to global cohead of business development. He was first brought back to Citadel in 2018, climbing to global head of equities business development before his 2024 departure. This latest cycle follows a period of churn within Citadel’s leadership ranks, which included the exit of chief people officer Sjoerd Gehring earlier this year. While the firm has since backfilled various business development roles with recruits from BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Verition, Giannini’s return signals a return to a familiar strategist to stabilize their talent pipeline.