Star Citadel trader to step down amid tumult in energy markets
Chris Foster to leave role at Ken Griffin’s hedge fund after making billions of dollars trading natural gas in Europe
A star trader at Ken Griffin’s Citadel hedge fund, whose team made billions of dollars trading natural gas during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is stepping down amid the most volatile period for the asset class in years.
Chris Foster, who has traded natural gas in Europe at Citadel for nearly two decades, is stepping down from the role. Foster has built up the business in Europe to become one of the hedge fund’s most important profit centres and has led the team there for most of his career.
Oil and natural gas prices have surged since the start of the Iran war early in 2026, creating a tumultuous landscape for traders who have had to navigate frequent ups and downs in hostilities between the US and Iran. This week, renewed conflict hit the energy sector yet again, and European natural gas prices hit their highest levels in three years.
Foster will continue to work for the firm as a senior adviser to Sebastian Barrack, the head of Citadel’s commodities business. Since last year, the team focused on natural gas trading in Europe has been led by Stephen Carter and Adam Frame, whom Foster hired.
“I am incredibly grateful to Chris for his leadership and many valuable contributions in building our industry-leading European natural gas team,” Barrack said in a statement.
While Citadel’s commodity business made record-breaking hauls around the period of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the team has had more muted returns in 2025 and so far in 2026, the FT previously reported.
Trading natural gas and other energy assets has historically been one of the most lucrative corners of Citadel’s broader strategy, and it was among the first hedge funds to build large trading teams devoted to the sector. In 2023, Griffin estimated that the unit had contributed $30bn to the hedge fund over the years.
One of the firm’s most lucrative periods came in 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and energy prices increased across Europe.
Citadel’s commodities team made an estimated $8bn that year, largely from European natural gas trades, which accounted for around half of the firm’s profits. The FT previously reported that Foster’s team made about $2bn alone during that period.
Citadel’s wild success in 2022 inspired rivals to pile into the asset class, and some of them have also followed the firm in buying up physical energy assets to aid their trading activities. One of the firm’s largest recent deals was its acquisition in March 2025 of Paloma Natural Gas, a Houston-based energy company now called Apex Natural Gas.