Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin has just smashed another real estate price record, buying the most expensive home sold in London in over a decade for $122 million.
Griffin, CEO and founder of Citadel, bought a famed mansion near Buckingham Palace that was once home to Charles de Gaulle, according to a company spokesperson. The property at 3 Carlton Gardens stretches more than 16,000 square feet and has an indoor swimming pool and large staff quarters. It is the most expensive home sold in London since 2008, and comes as London property prices have tumbled due to Brexit fears.
The deal is the latest in Griffin's unprecedented global shopping spree for real estate. During recent years, he has spent over $750 million on homes in Chicago, New York, Miami, Palm Beach, Florida, and now London. Griffin made about $1.4 billion in compensation in 2017, according to Institutional Investor.
He has now set six real estate price records. Last year, he paid the highest price ever for a home in Chicago, buying the top four floors of a Gold Coast condo tower for $58.5 million.
He purchased several floors of the new 220 Central Park South tower in New York for over $240 million, making it the most expensive home ever sold in New York and likely the most expensive residence ever sold in the U.S. He purchased the most expensive property ever sold in Miami — the two penthouses of Faena House — for $60 million. And he has spent over $200 million for land in Palm Beach (a record for Florida) to build a home that is expected to cost at least tens of millions of dollars more to build.
A spokeswoman for Citadel said that the London property is a "historic property purchase with a spectacular location." Citadel maintains offices in London for its investment management business as well as trading operations and other businesses, according to press reports. Griffin's new London home was used by Charles de Galle during World War II and later by MI6, according to the Financial Times. It was purchased by investors in 2014 for 65.5 million pounds ($84.7 million) and renovated to add the pool and other updates.
Griffin was represented in the deal by the Alexander Team at Douglas Elliman and by Knight Frank.
