Ken Griffin and his new home at 3 Carlton Gardens
He shattered the record for most expensive home sale ever in Chicago and has spent a not-so-small fortune amassing a huge South Florida estate. Now billionaire Ken Griffin is making waves in the London residential market.
The hedge fund honcho behind Chicago-based Citadel bought a Central London mansion for $122 million, according to the Financial Times.
It is the most expensive home sale in London since 2011, when Lakshmi Mittal bought a home in Kensington Palace Gardens for $150 million, the Financial Times reported.
Griffin’s historic home, at 3 Carlton Gardens, is near Buckingham Palace. The home was once a wartime residence of Charles de Gaulle, has been the home of three British prime ministers and has been used by the intelligence agency MI6, according to Forbes.
The home’s original asking price was more than $186 million, but the ask was reduced to $161 million two years later. Home prices in the United Kingdom have fallen by over 18 percent since 2014, in part due to Brexit.
Douglas Elliman’s Tal and Oren Alexander, along with Knight Frank, represented Griffin in the sale. A spokesperson for Griffin’s Citadel declined to comment.
Griffin in late 2017 spent $59 million on four unfinished floors in the Gold Coast’s No 9. Walton, the most costly home acquisition in the city’s history.
In Palm Beach, Griffin has spent $230 million accruing properties in the beachfront area known as Billionaires Row. He has cleared the oceanfront properties to make way for a home that will be longer than a football field.
[Financial Times] — Joe Ward
Source: The Real Deal Los Angeles