Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of financial services firm Citadel, recently sat down with CNBC’s Kate Kelly in an exclusive interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” 

Griffin, worth an estimated $7 billion, said Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were “both outstanding candidates for president,” but also touched on his expensive art collection and a record-setting $300 million property spending spree in which he bought multimillion-dollar homes in New York, Chicago, and Miami.

“There is an element of consumption,” he acknowledged of his many homes. “I think that one must keep that in mind, that when people make a decision to buy a piece of high-end real estate, it’s not just an investment. It’s where they spend time with their family and their loved ones.”

Asked whether he would rather own oceanfront property in Miami or gold, he said, “Personally, I would much rather be in Miami. We only live once. The gold is going to sit in a safe, and what’s that going to do for you?”

Read the transcript of the complete interview on CNBC here.

Image Credits: Source: Paul Elledge | Paul Elledge Photography.