A senior energy trader is out at Balyasny’s growing commodities operation

Dmitry Balyasny, the founder of Balyasny Asset Management.

A senior energy trader is out at Balyasny Asset Management.

Mike Grigsby, a crude-oil trader, has left the firm, according to people familiar with the matter. He joined in 2021 from Castleton Commodities, where he was a senior managing director and head of proprietary oil trading, according to his LinkedIn page.

Grigsby did not immediately respond to a request for comment over LinkedIn. A Balyasny spokesman declined to comment.

Grigsby is understood to have had a small team at Balyasny, which manages more than $20 billion and has made a push into commodities trading in recent years.

Some notable hires this year include the power trader Joe Constantinou from Bank of America, the Goldman Sachs oil trader Thomas Abe, and the Denmark-based power trader Thomas Bang, who joined from Centrica Energy.

The Chicago-based manager has also been ramping up hiring in its equities unit. The firm has spent more than $200 million in payouts to recruit senior money managers as it retools the group, Bloomberg reported.

The firm has made 5.2% through July, trailing peers like Citadel and Millennium.