Anne Dias-Griffin

Anne Dias-Griffin
Dias in 2014
Born
Anne Dias

(1970-01-01) January 1, 1970 (age 54)
Strasbourg, France
NationalityAmerican
French
EducationGeorgetown University (BSFS)
Harvard University (MBA)
OccupationHedge fund manager
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2003; div. 2015)​
Children3

Anne Dias-Griffin (born January 1, 1970) is a French-American investor. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Aragon, an investment firm active in global equities, with a focus on the internet, technology, and consumer sectors, as well as alternative assets.[1]

Early life and education

[edit]

Dias was born in Strasbourg, France.[2] She moved to the United States to study at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1992.[3] She graduated summa cum laude and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.[3]

Dias worked full-time in public policy research during college, on both domestic and foreign policy issues.[4] She was a research assistant to constitutional law scholar Walter Berns, the Olin Professor of Government at Georgetown University, and helped research a book on the Electoral College.[5] She also assisted Patrick J. Glynn, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, on his book about the history of the Cold War.[6]

In 1991, she was the Brussels representative for the American Electronics Association, and focused on European policy issues. She also worked on European Community and foreign policy issues as an intern at the German Parliament in Bonn and Berlin during the summer of 1992.[4]

Investment career

[edit]

Early career

[edit]

After receiving her degree from Georgetown University, Anne worked as an analyst in the Investment Banking department of Goldman Sachs in London and New York City and at Fidelity International in London.[7][8]

After obtaining her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997, she joined Soros Fund Management as an analyst and was promoted to portfolio manager one year later.[9]

At Soros, she specialized in the retail and financial services industry and managed a long/short portfolio of financial services stocks. Dias was a member of the founding investment team at Viking Global Investors, focusing on global media and internet investments.[10]

Aragon Global Management

[edit]

In 2001, Dias started her own fund, Aragon Global Management, LLC in New York City.[11]

Billionaire Julian Robertson of Tiger Management provided start-up capital for Aragon Global Management.[12]

At the end of 2011, Dias returned capital from outside investors to focus on the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation, and ran Aragon as a family office. Aragon re-opened to third-party capital in June 2021.[13]

In 2022, Dias is part of Barron's 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance.[14]

Corporate boards

[edit]

Dias sits on the board of Fox Corporation.[15]

Donations

[edit]

Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation

[edit]

Dias was co-president of the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation, which she co-founded in 2009; it was dissolved in 2014 due to the couple's divorce.[16][17] The foundation focused on early childhood education, the arts, and medical research, with particular emphasis on the health of women and children. The Griffins pledged more than $100 million to leading innovators and entrepreneurs whose initiatives are bringing measurable and sustainable change to the community.[18] Dias organized a national conference on early childhood education every year in Chicago for teachers, academic researchers and public policy experts.[19]

In 2006, Dias and Griffin gave $19 million to the Art Institute of Chicago, and in 2009, the Griffins donated $10 million to establish the Griffin Early Childhood Center.[20][21]

In 2010, they donated $16 million to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago of Chicago at Northwestern University to create an Emergency Care Center, which opened in 2012.[22][23]

Teaching

[edit]

Dias is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business where she teaches a course on hedge fund strategies.[24] The class straddles theoretical teachings and practical applications of the hedge fund industry. Guest speakers have come from the world’s top investment firms, including Elliott Associates, Tiger Global, Citadel, Carnegie Corporation, Monticello, Coatue, Paulson & Co., Magnetar and Viking.[25]

Publications

[edit]

Media

[edit]

In 2012, Dias launched Reboot Illinois, a news website and social media platform focused on Illinois politics, with over 650,000 monthly page views. During Dias’ ownership, Reboot Illinois was the recipient of multiple journalism awards. She sold her interest in the site to AFK Media Group in 2016.[26]

Personal life

[edit]

Dias was born in France to a Franco-Argentine father and Franco-German mother.[27] She married hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin in 2003. In 2015, Griffin and Dias divorced.[28] The couple has joint custody over their three children.[29][30]

Dias is a Republican, and has donated to campaign funds for various candidates.[31]

Awards

[edit]

Dias has been named as one of the most powerful women in finance by multiple publications,[32] including U.S. Banker,[7][33][34] and The Hedge Fund Journal.[35] In 2006, she was featured in Crain's Chicago Business' "40 Under 40" list and Institutional Investor's "20 Rising Stars of Hedge Funds".[36][37] She won the Harvard Club of Chicago's Annual Alumni Award in 2010.[38]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Aragon: About". Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Who are Ken and Anne Dias Griffin?". Chicago Tribune. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  3. ^ a b Murphy, Tim (6 April 2007). "Who Gets to Marry a Billionaire?". New York, N.Y., United States: New York Magazine. New York Media LLC. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b Hanson, Janet (March 13, 2006). More Than 85 Broads. McGraw Hill Professional. ISBN 9780071423687. Retrieved July 27, 2014. 85 broads.
  5. ^ Berns, Walter (1983). After the People Vote. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. ISBN 9780844735405. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  6. ^ Glynn, Patrick J. (1992). Closing Pandora's Box. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465098095. Retrieved July 28, 2014. Closing Pandora's Box: Arms Race, Arms Control and the History of the Cold War.
  7. ^ a b Anthony Malakian (October 1, 2009). "The Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance: #19 Anne Dias Griffin". American Banker.
  8. ^ Forbes.com staff (November 14, 2007). "Billionaire Wives Club Gets New Member". Forbes.com.
  9. ^ "Escape Focus 40 under 40, 2006". Crain's. November 5, 2006.
  10. ^ Melissa Harris (June 2, 2012). "Chicago Confidential: Anne Dias Griffin to launch media company, reform-minded news site". Chicago Tribune.
  11. ^ Stevenson, Alexandra; De La Merced, Michael (24 July 2014). "A Divorce That Thrusts Ken Griffin and Anne Dias Griffin Into the Spotlight". New York Times. No. DealBook. New York, N.Y., United States. The New York Times Company. p. B3. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  12. ^ Weiss, Miles (July 26, 2021). "Anne Dias Returns to Money Management With New Long-Short Fund". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  13. ^ "Aragon's Dias Seeks Firms That Can Double Their Earnings". Bloomberg.com. 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  14. ^ Maxey, Daisy. "Anne Dias". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  15. ^ "Anne Dias".
  16. ^ Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation dissolved Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, breakingnews.suntimes.com; accessed February 12, 2015.
  17. ^ "Kenneth C. Griffin". The Fund Chicago Public Education. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  18. ^ John Lauerman (February 20, 2014). "Citadel's Griffin Gives Harvard $150 Million for Student Aid". Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
  19. ^ "2012 Frontiers in Education Conference". The Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  20. ^ Dealbook (July 26, 2007). "Citadel's Griffin at the Art World's Gates". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Oliver Staley (February 23, 2011). "Chicago Economist's 'Crazy Idea' Wins Ken Griffin's Backing". Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
  22. ^ Melissa Harris and Bruce Japsen (January 7, 2010). "Kenneth and Anne Griffin give $16 million to Children's Memorial Hospital". Chicago Tribune.
  23. ^ Melissa Harris and Bruce Japsen. "Griffins' gift will enhance emergency care in new hospital". Lurie Children's Hospital. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  24. ^ "Georgetown University Alumni Partner With Center for Financial Markets and Policy to Teach MBA Hedge Fund Investing Course". Georgetown University. 2018-04-18. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  25. ^ "Georgetown University Faculty Directory". gufaculty360.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  26. ^ Korecki, Natasha (9 March 2016). "Anne Dias sells Reboot Illinois, site to expand under AFK Media". Politico PRO. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  27. ^ Content, Contributed (November 7, 2014). "Who are Ken and Anne Dias Griffin?".
  28. ^ Aaron Smith (October 7, 2015). "Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin reaches divorce settlement". CNN Money. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  29. ^ Andrew Harris, Saijel Kishan and Katherine Burton (July 24, 2014). "Citadel's Griffin Seeks Divorce After 11-Year Marriage". Bloomberg News.
  30. ^ Stevenson, Alexandra (2015-10-07). "Kenneth Griffin and Anne Dias Griffin Settle Divorce Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  31. ^ Petrella, Dan (13 February 2019). "Which Illinois politicians get money from state's richest resident, Ken Griffin?". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  32. ^ "Wonder Women". Texas Wall Street Women. October 14, 2008. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  33. ^ Michael Sisk (October 2, 2007). "Peer to Peer". American Banker.
  34. ^ Michael Sisk (October 1, 2008). "Peer to Peer". American Banker.
  35. ^ Philippa Aylmer. "50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds" (PDF). The HedgeFund Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  36. ^ "40 under 40". Crain's Chicago Business. 2006.
  37. ^ "20 Rising Stars of Hedge Funds". Institutional Investor. 2006.
  38. ^ "2010 Annual Award Dinner Honoring Anne Dias Griffin, MBA97 & Kenneth Griffin, AB89". University Club of Chicago. March 13, 2010. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anne_Dias-Griffin&oldid=1245161397"