Citadel is set to return approximately $5 billion in profits from its 2025 earnings to investors at the beginning of next year, according to an insider familiar with the situation.
The firm's principal multistrategy fund, Wellington, recorded a 9.3% increase in 2025 through last week, as reported by the source who preferred to remain anonymous while discussing the performance.
The returned profit does not represent the entirety of the gains made in 2025, but is rather part of a strategic approach to limit capital in alignment with the firm's projected opportunities for the coming year. Consequently, Citadel will commence 2026 managing $67 billion in assets, a decrease from its current $72 billion, as per the source.
A Citadel spokesperson declined to provide a comment.
Since 2017, Citadel has not consistently executed profit distributions annually, but including this year's anticipated returns, a total of $32 billion in profits has been disseminated to its investors.
LCH Investments recognizes Citadel as the most profitable hedge fund based on net gains since inception. Cumulatively, Citadel has amassed $83 billion in net gains up to 2024. This figure is expected to rise beyond $88 billion with the forthcoming rankings update set for release in January.