Billionaire hedge fund boss Ken Griffin has vacated two apartments in a prestigious Chicago building for a $15 million loss.
The Citadel CEO sold the properties — the entire 37th and 38th floors of the No. 9 Walton condo tower — for $9 million and $10 million, respectively.
He paid more than $34 million for both of them in 2017. After selling the properties Tuesday, he blamed rampant crime in the Windy City.
He said yes The Wall Street Journalafter previously criticizing JB Pritzker, the Democrat governor of Illinois, for failing to keep Chicago safe.
Since the two purchases, Griffin has been on the move: he has moved his hedge fund to the South Florida with plans to build a $1 billion mega-estate just a quarter mile south of Mar-a-Lago, where newly elected President Donald Trump lives.
He has also purchased a series of multi-million dollar properties across the country, but appears to be on the verge of saying goodbye to Chicago for good.
The not-so-smart move meant a 44 percent loss for the Florida native, after he also sold his unit at the Waldorf Astoria — a deal that itself was worth about $10.2 million — for $3 million less than what he paid in 2014.
“Chicago’s decline in real estate values is representative of Illinois’ failed political leadership, a loss ultimately borne by the state’s people,” he said weeks after paying out $45 million for a series of 150-million-year-old buildings . fossils.
Ken Griffin sold two Chicago apartments last Tuesday for a $15 million loss. He bought them in 2017 with plans to converge them
The Citadel CEO sold the properties — the entire 37th and 38th floors of the No. 9 Walton condo tower — for $9 million and $10 million, respectively
“Live on top of the Gold Coast in the most luxurious building in the city,” said the advertisement for the now sold building on the 37th floor.
‘First time ever offered: this penthouse at Chicago’s most prominent address, Walton 9.
‘This is a unique and exceptional opportunity to create a dream of more than 7,500 square meters.’
The ad for the 38th floor – an unfinished attic left by the hedge funder – added how potential buyers would have accessed their own private rooftop pool and a rooftop pavilion, with the apartment being the penthouse of the building.
“First ever offered: this true penthouse at Chicago’s premier address, Number 9 Walton,” it continues.
The homes hit the market last month and both were apparently purchased by the same buyer.
The party that paid the still-high price has not been named, but they made the purchase at a time when the luxury apartment market is in the midst of a notable downturn.
A recent report from @properties shows that the average price of apartments in the city above $1 million has fallen by almost 10 percent this year, compared to just three years ago.
The not-so-smart move meant a 44 percent loss for the Florida native, whose return to the Sunshine State comes amid rising crime and violence in Chicago.
Brandon Johnson, 57, an ex-teacher who served four years as a Cook County commissioner, has failed to substantially reduce crime since appointing Lori Lightfoot last year — who many blame for the city’s current state – replaced last year
On Wednesday, Griffin called Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, seen here on stage during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, held this year in Chicago.
They also did so during a historic period of crime – a period that saw the country once again assume the dubious distinction of being the murder capital of the US for the twelfth year in a row in 2023.
The Big Apple — no stranger to homicide — is about three times larger than the Democratic-led city, but saw roughly 40 percent fewer homicides last year, statistics show.
Moreover, since Brandon Johnson replaced the ailing Lori Lightfoot last year, the decline has continued, according to figures released Thursday by the Chicago Police Department.
Still, homicide totals are down 8 percent and shootings are down 5 percent compared to the same period last year — showing some, albeit slow, improvement.
As for Griffin, who is 56, he bought the two houses with plans to merge them. However, he never got that far, the 38th floor is still completely gutted, as photos show.
Meanwhile, he continues to buy properties in places like New York, Miami and Palm Beach, including a string of posh properties on Miami’s exclusive Star Island.
He has been a major donor to Republicans in the past and has yet to donate to Trump, but in July he gave $10 million to a crucial conservative fundraising group — the Congressional Leadership Fund — in an apparent attempt to gain some influence over Congress.
Griffin, a major donor to Republicans in the past — believed to be worth about $50 billion — has yet to donate to Trump.
In July, however, he donated $10 million to a crucial conservative fundraising group – the Congressional Leadership Fund – in an apparent attempt to gain some influence over Congress.
That same month, the man estimated to be worth nearly $50 billion bought a late Jurassic stegosaurus skeleton for $44.6 million from Sotheby’s in New York City, a record dinosaur collecting sum that further demonstrated his deep pockets.
That same month, the man worth nearly $50 billion bought a Late Jurassic stegosaurus skeleton from Sotheby’s in New York City for $44.6 million, a record sum for dinosaur collecting, further demonstrating his deep pockets.
The stegosaurus, named ‘Apex’, measures 11 feet long and almost 27 feet and has been called the “finest stegosaurus specimen ever to come to auction.”
The skeleton was expected to sell for around $6 million, with Griffin winning the live auction after competing with six other bidders for 15 minutes.
The person he sold the properties to remains unknown, but the sale was handled by Christie’s International Real Estate and Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, the listings showed.