Teen Genius Kairan Quazi Leaves SpaceX at 16 to Join Citadel Securities, Rejects Big Tech and AI Offers

New Delhi (India) August 22: At the age of sixteen, Kairan Quazi is making his next significant professional move. He was the youngest engineer to join Elon Musk's SpaceX at the age of fourteen. According to reports, the youngest-ever graduate of Santa Clara University is quitting his position at SpaceX. He is also declining offers in artificial intelligence.

Youngest Santa Clara graduate makes bold finance move

Kairan Quazi became one of the world's youngest engineers when he joined SpaceX's Starlink at the age of 14. After two years, he decides to take on a new challenge: finance.

Teenage genius Kairan is starting his career on Wall Street at Citadel Securities in New York City as a quantitative developer. Quazi is reportedly rejecting offers from big tech and AI in favor of finance. 

He says, "After two years at SpaceX, I felt ready to take on new challenges and expand my skill set into a different high-performance environment." 

He also adds, "Citadel Securities offered a similarly ambitious culture, but also a completely new domain, which is very exciting for me." 

Citadel’s culture attracts prodigy over AI and Big Tech

Quazi chose Citadel Securities because of its special blend of intellectual challenge and quick feedback loops. Even though he received offers from top AI labs and significant tech firms. He designs software that calculates where Starlink satellites aim their beams. This is in order to provide dependable internet connections for millions of users. He also works on production-critical technologies at SpaceX.

Kairan Quazi commends Citadel Securities' meritocratic philosophy. He points out that the company did not deny him opportunities because of his age. Quazi leaps from third grade to college at the age of nine. He interned at Intel Labs at the age of ten. He will now work on global trading infrastructure at the nexus of quantitative problem-solving and engineering.

Citadel Securities is the sibling firm of the well-known Citadel. The company handles around 35% of retail stock trades in the US. It made almost $10 billion in 2024. It is engaged in a talent war with companies like xAI, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

Musk reacts as Quazi enters high-stakes trading world

Elon Musk also addresses his young prodigy Kairan Quazi's resignation from SpaceX. He posts, “First time I’ve ever heard of him,” on social media platform X. At the age of 14, Kairan Quazi began working at SpaceX in 2023.