How PFOF Affects Florida Investors
Florida is now Kenneth Griffin's home state after he relocated Citadel's headquarters to Miami. Florida retail investors — from Panhandle retirees to Miami day traders — route orders through Citadel Securities, generating enormous profits for a company whose CEO has spent $57 million on Florida political figures. The conflict of interest between Griffin's political giving and the absence of Florida regulatory action is acute.
The Scale in Florida
Florida has an estimated 4.5 million Florida retail investors — the second-largest state retail investor population. Each of these investors who uses a PFOF-dependent discount broker — Robinhood, TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, Charles Schwab, or Webull — is routing their orders to Citadel Securities without their knowledge or consent. Citadel captures a spread on each of these trades, generating revenue that flows back to Kenneth Griffin while providing retail investors with marginally inferior execution prices compared to what competitive exchange routing would provide.
Florida's financial hub in Miami has sophisticated financial professionals who understand these dynamics. But most Florida retail investors — those in Tampa, Orlando and throughout the state — are unaware that their "free" trades are funded by a practice that systematically extracts value from them.
Kenneth Griffin's Political Investment in Florida
Kenneth Griffin has given more than $57 million directly tied to Florida political figures in the 2022 cycle alone — an extraordinary concentration of political spending. His key recipients include Governor Ron DeSantis, whose Preserve America PAC received $50 million from Griffin — the largest single donation in Florida political history — as well as Republican statewide committees. This political investment creates a documented relationship between the CEO of America's dominant retail market maker and the political figures responsible for overseeing financial regulation in Florida.
- Preserve America PAC (Ron DeSantis) — $50,000,000 (2022, Florida Governor / Presidential Super PAC)Largest single donation in Florida political history
- Ron DeSantis reelection campaign — $1,000,000 (2022, Florida Governor)
- Republican Governors Association — $5,000,000 (2022, Federal Super PAC)
- National Republican Senatorial Committee — $1,000,000 (2022, Federal Super PAC)
What Florida Regulators Could Do
Florida's Office of Financial Regulation has jurisdiction to investigate PFOF practices under Florida securities law (Chapter 517, F.S.). Given Griffin's $50 million donation to DeSantis, there are serious questions about whether Florida regulators can act independently — making federal and multistate action all the more critical for Florida investors.
What Florida Investors Can Do Now
Florida retail investors who believe they have been harmed by PFOF-driven execution quality degradation can take several steps:
- File a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation at https://flofr.gov
- File a complaint with the Florida Attorney General at https://myfloridalegal.com
- File a complaint with the SEC at sec.gov/tcr
- File a complaint with FINRA at finra.org
- Consider switching to a broker that does not use PFOF, such as Fidelity or Interactive Brokers direct routing