An apartment on Central Park just sold for $238 million. That’s the highest price ever paid for a home in the US

January 25, 2019

(CNN)-The most expensive home in the country sold in New York for $238 million. Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin closed on the Manhattan property at 220 Central Park South on Wednesday his spokesperson said.The nearly 24,000 square foot apartment takes up several floors at the top of a tower designed by architects Robert A.M. Stern and developed by Vornado Realty Trust.This sale is the most anyone has paid for a home in the United States. The previous record was set in 2014, also by a New York property. That home in the Hamptons sold for $137 million, according to statistics compiled by Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate and appraisal consulting firm that tracks highest sales of single residences over $50 million.

Tracking the top prices paid for US homes

The company’s CEO, Jonathan Miller, cautions that tracking the most expensive homes sold in the country is not an exact science.”There aren’t as many as you think,” Miller said. “The banner year was 2014. In 2013 and 2014 I started noticing every couple of weeks there was a story that said, ‘this was the highest asking price in the country,’ or ‘this was the highest in California.’ In 2015 I started looking back and realized that many of those hadn’t sold. It was the pocket listings, the ones that weren’t splashed everywhere, that were selling.”Miller said when he first heard about the property at 220 Central Park South in 2014 it was listed for $250 million. “The sale for $238 million has nothing to do with the current market. It has everything to do with 2015, which was around peak luxury,” he said. “In New York the top end is softening right now because of over-development.”The 79-story skyscraper that contains the apartment is under construction and is right on Central Park in an area often referred to as New York’s billionaires row. It has sweeping views of the iconic park. Other big names at that building include singer Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Top five most expensive US sales

The top five most expensive homes sold in the United States, as compiled by Miller Samuel Inc.:

220 Central Park South, New York — Sold in 2019 for $238 million.
60 Further Lane, East Hampton, New York — Sold in 2014 for $137 million.
50 Blossom Way, Palm Beach, Florida — Sold in 2013 for $129.6 million.
499 Indian Field Road, Greenwich, Connecticut — Sold in 2014 for $120 million.
360 Mountain Home Road, Woodside, California — Sold in 2013 for $117.5 million.

About the buyer

Ken Griffin, the home’s buyer and founder and chief executive officer of Citadel.Ken Griffin is the founder of Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel and has a net worth of $9.9 billion, according to Forbes. Citadel was founded in 1990 by Griffin, who began his trading career from his dorm room in the ’80s at Harvard University when he was 19, according to the company’s website. He was able to do this after persuading Harvard to let him install a satellite dish on the roof of the dorm so he could get better access to stock quotes. Citadel is one of the most successful hedge fund empires. Griffin is also known for his charity gifts. In 2014 he donated $150 million to his alma mater, and has given approximately $700 million to charities.

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Funny how I’ve never met a single living person who could make money trading stocks, especially using high speed robotic trading techniques.

In fact, they used to sell these automated trading systems for $8,000-$10,000 only producing one result: everyone who bought the system, lost all their money, plain and simple. So if nobody I’ve ever met in the trading community can turn a profit trading stocks, (because in truth, it’s simply gambling) how does this guy become one of the richest people in the world in just 20 years doing something that nobody can do? The answer’s simple: fraud.

Although stock market fraud of this magnitude is usually supported by the government and political power players who are involved to some degree. Bernie Maddoff couldn’t even make money in the stock market. And he had 5, 10 or 15 billion of other people money to work with. One thing I know is for sure, the guy will lose a lot of money on this condo he bought. He only got this rich from being able to beat a system that no every day trader or investor could even come close to matching 10% of what this guy does. No one even really knows what he does. I don’t even know what he does.

What I do know if no one else can do it, how does he do it? It’s kind of like a poker game. If the same guy wins every hand, the game has to be rigged. There’s no two ways about it. Although the article was astounding, anybody who could pay this kind of money for a single user apartment in New York City for sure is not thinking about how much he’s going to resell it for.

The jury is definitely not out on this one. Remember, I often say, rich people are smart people.And whether this guy’s doing something right or wrong, he’s definitely smart people.

About The Author

Robert Annenberg: Robert Louis Annenberg Is a 40 year seasoned property owner, manager, investor, builder/developer and business man who is also an author of five published books to date (Amazon.com) and the chief editor of LifeQuestJournal.com. He can be reached at: Info@RobertAnnenberg.com and (201) 289-2500.