Teen Prodigy Kairan Quazi Quits SpaceX Job After Two Years To Join Citadel Securities

Last Updated:August 20, 2025, 13:18 IST

Kairan Quazi, a 16-year-old tech prodigy, is moving from SpaceX to Citadel Securities in New York as a global trading infrastructure engineer. He graduated at 14.

Quazi had joined SpaceX at age 14, becoming the company's youngest-ever employee. (Image: LinkedIn/Kairan Quazi)

Kairan Quazi, the 16-year-old tech prodigy of Bangladeshi origin who made headlines as one of the youngest university graduates in the United States, is starting a new phase in his impressive career, according to media reports.

After spending two years at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Quazi has announced his move to Citadel Securities in New York, where he will work as a global trading infrastructure engineer.

A Remarkable Journey

Quazi joined SpaceX at age 14, becoming the company’s youngest-ever employee. He was part of the Starlink division, contributing to the development of critical satellite systems and ensuring their operational accuracy.

Looking back on his professional journey, Quazi told Business Insider, “After two years at SpaceX, I felt ready to take on new challenges and expand my skill set into a different high-performance environment."

Explaining his decision to join Citadel Securities, he said it was driven by the firm’s intellectual complexity and rapid feedback

“Quant finance offers a pretty rare combination: the complexity and intellectual challenge that AI research also provides, but with a much faster pace," Quazi told Business Insider.

“At Citadel Securities, I’ll be able to see measurable impact in days, not months or years like many research environments," he added.

Quazi Graduated At 14

Quazi’s resume is astonishing for someone his age. At just 14, he graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in computer science and engineering. He is the institution’s youngest graduate.

His journey began even earlier — at 10, he interned at Intel Labs, and in 2022, he worked in machine learning at cyber-intelligence startup Blackbird.AI.

As per reports, his work involves engineering and quantitative problem-solving, with experience in low-latency, high-performance computing, and real-time programming.

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