What Citadel Securities Leaders Are Reading This Summer

For some Citadel Securities leaders, fun in the sun means getting philosophical.

A recent newsletter from Ken Griffin’s trading firm, which is behind nearly a quarter of all US stock trades, included six executives’ beach reads and listens. Their recommendations appeal to a range of potential beachgoers, including everything from diet advice to a 1927 classic to a YouTube series that explains egg freezing.

Here are six Citadel Securities executives’ summer media recommendations.

The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future

Matt Culek, the chief operating officer, recommended the book by Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey to anyone who thinks that AI will transform business and daily life — so, basically, everyone. He called it a “compelling account of OpenAI’s founding, Altman’s leadership, and the fierce competition among leading AI firms.”

The book, published in May, tracks OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s journey from his childhood in St. Louis, his time at startups, his temporary ouster at OpenAI, and his current leadership. It’s based on more than 200 interviews and has 3.97 stars on Goodreads.

The Cell: A Visual Tour of the Building Block of Life

Chief Technology Officer Josh Woods said that the 2015 book is “as informative as it is visually stunning.” Written by the writer and lecturer Jack Challoner, “The Cell” chronicles scientific breakthroughs around life’s basic unit, tracking the evolutionary journey from single- to multi-celled organisms. On Goodreads, the book has 4.37 stars.

Decisive Moments in History: Twelve Historical Miniatures

Shyam Rajan, the global head of fixed income, suggested Austrian writer Stefan Zweig’s 1927 classic, which was originally published in German. According to Rajan, the book “thoughtfully captures the catalysts that changed the trajectory of history ranging from the fall of Constantinople to the discovery of the Pacific Ocean.”

Other vignettes include an affair between a 74-year-old and a 19-year-old, and the story of a man who legally owned a good portion of California. The book has a 4.24 rating on Goodreads.

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How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease

It seems like the summer of health for Alex DiLeonardo, the company’s chief people officer, who recommended the “eye opening” book about how to prevent chronic illness through nutrition.

“Our colleagues take the same optimizing lens to their life that we take to the market,” DiLeonardo wrote in his suggestion. Published in 2015 by American physician Michael Greger , “How Not to Die” examines the top 15 causes of prominent diseases. It has 4.42 stars on Goodreads and includes a checklist of the 12 foods Greger thinks we should eat daily.

Wind of Change: Did the CIA write a power ballad that ended the Cold War?

Dane Skillrud, COO of systematic equities & FICC, recommended a podcast instead of a book. The eight-part miniseries from 2020 is hosted by New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe and follows his investigation into whether the CIA wrote the song “Wind of Change” by Scorpion, a German rock band. According to rumors, the CIA wrote the 1990s hit to impact the fall of the USSR.

“It’s a useful reminder of the importance and power of new ideas, music, and language,” Skillrud wrote in his recommendation. The series has 4.8 stars on Spotify.

Huge if True: An optimistic show about using science and technology to make the future better

For the COO of technology and low latency, Jeff Maurone, summer media means YouTube. He recommended video journalist Cleo Abram’s series on the future of technology, saying that “she is a tremendous storyteller who helps me navigate how technology and AI are changing our world.”

Recent episodes focus on everything from DNA editing to getting sucked into a black hole to egg freezing to interviews with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.