Citadel money manager exits to join Biden’s push for chips

President Joe Biden’s administration has persuaded another money manager from Wall Street to join the government’s efforts to create a computer-chip renaissance in the US.

Franklin Keller, 37, is joining the CHIPS for America program on the investment team, led by Todd Fisher, who formerly worked at KKR & Co. Keller, who has spent much of his career focused on semiconductors, worked in Citadel’s hedge fund business as part of its Ashler Capital equities unit.

“We need more people with real-world experience serving in government who understand the complexities of this issue,” Citadel founder Ken Griffin said in a statement to Bloomberg. “I applaud Frank’s commitment to our nation and wish him success in supporting the implementation of the CHIPS act.”

The agency, led by Secretary Gina Raimondo — herself a former venture capitalist — is building a team that will act as a quasi-investment firm, deploying more than $50 billion to ramp up US semiconductor production. A Citadel spokesman confirmed the move. Representatives for the Commerce Department didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The endeavor is a bold, new challenge for the Commerce Department and part of the biggest US foray into industrial policy in decades. Raimondo has been working to attract top talent from the financial world with experience crafting deals and investing in the technology industry.

Keller adds to the recent hiring of Srujan Linga, a managing director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Another pair of former Goldman Sachs partners, Kevin Quinn and Brad Koenig, are serving as liaisons with semiconductor firms that will seek a portion of the funding being offered to build plants in the US.

Congress last year passed the US Chips and Science Act to return advanced semiconductor manufacturing to the US after pandemic lock downs and supply-chain disruption laid bare American reliance on chips from Asia and particularly Taiwan, the target of frequent threats from China.