John Griffin, founder of hedge fund Blue Ridge Capital, spent the most ever for a residential townhouse in New York City this week when he paid $77.1 million to Philip Falcone and his wife Lisa, according to people familiar with the transaction.
The townhouse, located on East 67th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues, previously belonged to Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione. Former hedge fund manager Falcone purchased it in 2008 for $49 million and invested millions in a multi-year renovation of the property, installing a pool and movie theater below ground level and expanding the property to almost 30,000 square feet.
The sale comes on the heels of reports that Jeff Bezos bought three condos at 212 Fifth Ave. for $80 million, and Kenneth Griffin paid $238 million for a penthouse at 220 Central Park South. Despite these sales, New York’s luxury market remains relatively soft. Sales at or above $30 million doubled in the first quarter year over year, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel, though the listing discount for luxury sales also doubled.
John Griffin, 56, one of the hedge fund industry’s original “Tiger cubs,” worked at famed investor Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management for nine years and served as president before forming Blue Ridge in 1996. The firm produced annualized returns of 15.4%, beating the S&P benchmark index in the 21 years it remained open. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
Since announcing the closing of Blue Ridge in December 2017, Griffin has managed his own fortune and pursued his philanthropic endeavors. He is the founder of iMentor, a mentoring program for high-school students in low-income communities and Blue Ridge Labs at Robin Hood, a program that creates and supports early-stage social tech ventures. Griffin is also on the board of Robin Hood, New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization.
Lest any billionaires fear they’ve missed out, there are plenty of other mega townhouses on the Upper East Side that remain unsold.
There’s a $67 million, 13,000-square-foot, seven-story mansion on East 63rd street right off Central Park listed by Corcoran; a 33-foot-wide townhouse 11 blocks north on East 74th street, listed for $41 million by Douglas Elliman; and an 11,000-square-foot mansion on East 76th Street with a price tag of $35.8 million, listed by Buchbinder & Warren Realty Group.
To contact the reporters on this story: Katherine Burton in New York at kburton@bloomberg.net;Claire Ballentine in New York at cballentine@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Mirabella at amirabella@bloomberg.net, Melissa Karsh
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