Ken Griffin, Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Advisors LLC, at the Semaphore World Economy Summit during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, US on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | getty images
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said on Tuesday that the global economy is headed for recession if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for much longer.
“Let’s say (the Strait) is closed for the next six to 12 months – the world will be in recession,” Griffin said on stage at the Semaphore World Economy conference in Washington, DC. “There’s no way to avoid it.”
As a result, he said, the world is going to see a massive shift towards alternative fuel sources, including wind, solar and nuclear. Certainly, the hedge fund leader believes the consequences of war would have been worse if the US had delayed any attack until Iran’s military capabilities increased.
Stocks have managed to get back to levels where they were before the US first attacked Iran in February, but the optimistic sentiment among investors is dependent on the duration of the war in the Middle East. Many people hope that there is no risk of tension increasing between the two countries in the market at all.
Global economies, particularly in Asia, remain sensitive to rising oil prices, which remain at around $100 a barrel. This is below their highs during the conflict, but well above where they were before the war, just below $70 a barrel.
