In a rare move, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued an apology to billionaire investor Ken Griffin for the leak of his tax returns to the press. This apology comes after Griffin reached a settlement in his lawsuit against the IRS, in which he alleged that an employee at the agency illegally leaked his tax information to the news site ProPublica. The settlement was reached on Monday, 2022.

Griffin, who is the CEO of Citadel, joins a list of high-profile individuals whose tax information was leaked by ProPublica in 2021, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and real estate mogul Stephen Ross. This leak was part of a series called "The Secret IRS Files". The IRS employee at the center of the controversy is government contractor Charles Littlejohn, who not only leaked Griffin's tax returns but also the confidential tax information of thousands of other wealthy Americans to the New York Times.

Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison in January after pleading guilty to unauthorized disclosure of tax returns. The IRS acknowledged its failure in preventing Littlejohn's criminal conduct and unlawful disclosure of Griffin's confidential data in a statement, stating that it takes its responsibilities seriously. The agency assured Griffin and other victims of Littlejohn's actions that it has made substantial investments in data security to strengthen the safeguarding of taxpayer information.

It was revealed that Littlejohn accessed the tax data through an IRS database and uploaded it to a private website to bypass the agency's restrictions on large downloads. He shared former President Donald Trump's tax information with the New York Times and leaked other individuals' information, including Griffin's, to ProPublica. The IRS condemned Littlejohn's actions, stating that he violated the terms of his contract and betrayed the trust that the American people place in the agency to safeguard their sensitive information.

Griffin's lawyer, William A. Burck of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, expressed satisfaction with the outcome after years of stonewalling. He emphasized the importance of holding the IRS accountable to protect taxpayer information in the future. Griffin himself expressed gratitude to his team for securing an outcome that will better protect American taxpayers and ultimately benefit all Americans.

With this settlement and apology, the IRS aims to rectify the failures that led to the unauthorized disclosure of tax information. The agency's commitment to data security and taxpayer privacy has been reinforced, aiming to rebuild trust in its operations.