Bangladeshi-American Kairan Quazi’s meteoric journey: The unstoppable rise from Space X to Wall Street

At just 16 years old, Kairan Quazi — once a college-level wiz-kid — is trading Starlink satellites for Wall Street algorithms.

At the age of 14, the Bangladeshi-American prodigy turned heads in 2023, as the youngest-ever graduate of Santa Clara University, earning a degree in computer science and engineering. 

Soon after, he joined Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help build production-critical software for Starlink, fine-tuning satellite beam targeting to bring fast, reliable internet to millions.

Now, Kairan is making headlines again—this time exchanging rockets for financial markets.

He’s joining Citadel Securities in New York as a quantitative developer, where he’ll be working on the firm's global trading infrastructure, as per Business Insider.

When asked why he made the leap, Kairan said: “After two years at SpaceX, I felt ready to take on new challenges… Citadel Securities offered a similarly ambitious culture, but also a completely new domain, which is very exciting for me,” he told Business Insider.

His age hasn't held him back — if anything, it’s made his entry into finance all the more remarkable. 

Kairan turned down offers from elite AI labs and major tech firms, choosing Citadel for its speed, meritocratic culture, and lightning-fast feedback loops: “Quant finance offers a pretty rare combination: the complexity and intellectual challenge that AI research also provides, but with a much faster pace… I’ll be able to see measurable impact in days, not months or years.”  

While Elon Musk himself claimed, “First time I’ve ever heard of him,” many in tech and finance are marveling at how quickly Kairan has climbed — space, then soon-to-be-finance. 

Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kairan’s early life was marked by exceptional milestones: skipping from third grade to college at age 9, interning at Intel Labs at age 10, then a machine learning internship at Blackbird.

At SpaceX, he wasn’t a mere intern — he was entrusted with owning projects from conception through implementation, a rare responsibility for someone so young.

At Citadel, he’ll be contributing to one of the most influential market-making operations in the world — Citadel Securities handles around 35% of US retail stock trades, generating nearly $10 billion in revenue in 2024 and an impressive $3.4 billion in Q1 2025.

Living in Manhattan, New York, Kairan says he loves the city, plus it’s just a 10-minute walk to the Citadel office — way more convenient than relying on his mom to drive him to SpaceX in Washington. 

Kairan Quazi’s story isn’t just extraordinary — it’s rewriting what’s possible. From third grade to engineering at SpaceX to global finance at Citadel, he’s a reminder that boundaries are only as real as we allow them to be.