By Katherine Clarke

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Billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin has long been known as one of residential real estate's biggest whales, presiding over a personal property empire estimated to be worth billions. Now, he's added yet another trophy to his real-estate holdings: a duplex at New York's most storied cooperative, 740 Park Avenue.

Griffin is the buyer behind the $45 million purchase of a unit at the building from Julia Koch, widow of billionaire industrialist David Koch, according to people familiar with the situation. The Kochs paid about $17 million for the prewar unit in 2004, property records show. David died in 2019 aged 79. Julia, who had been spending more time at her homes in Southampton and Palm Beach, started shopping the five-bedroom residence near the beginning of 2022 for $60 million or more. It was formally listed for $48 million in 2023.

The Cidatel founder already owns a Manhattan apartment a few blocks away at 220 Central Park South, which is widely considered the city's best condo building. He paid $238 million for an apartment there in 2019. By comparison, 740 Park is seen as the city's top co-op building. Developed around 1930 by James T. Lee, the grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, it has drawn bold-faced names including the Kochs, Ronald Lauder and former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Over the years, Griffin has developed a reputation for buying the most expensive properties in the world's priciest buildings and neighborhoods, often breaking price records in the process.

He owns a $122 million London mansion near Buckingham Palace, a Hamptons compound he bought from Calvin Klein for $84.45 million, a roughly $107 million compound in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood and a huge swath of land in Palm Beach, Fla., where he has spent more than $450 million.

The listing agents of the 740 Park unit were Leighton Candler, Bradley Comisar and Jennifer Reardon of Corcoran.

Write to Katherine Clarke at Katherine.Clarke@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Ken Griffin is the founder of Citadel. "Billionaire Ken Griffin Adds $45 Million New York Pad to His Property Empire" at 3 p.m. ET incorrectly said the company name is Cidatel..

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2025 17:18 ET (22:18 GMT)

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