Famed Enron short seller Jim Chanos has traditionally relied on the markets to make his dough — except when it comes to his latest real estate deal.
After several years of listing and delisting his Upper East Side penthouse triplex, Chanos pulled the trigger on a $19 million sale in an off-market deal, according to public records.
The hedge funder bought the 7,300-square-foot condo at 3 East 75th in 2008 for $20 million.
Chanos sought $34 million for the home back in 2019 when he first listed it with Douglas Elliman, and since then has rotated through a number of brokers and price points.
After taking it off the market in 2020, Chanos listed his home again in 2022, this time with Compass, for $23.5 million to no avail.
In 2023, the financier relisted the pad with Corcoran for the same price, before eventually cutting the price to $19.75 million. He finally took it off the market in November of last year.
Casa Blanca’s Hannah Bomze brought the anonymous buyer.
The modern, Thad Hayes-designed apartment sits atop a limestone mansion designed by C.P.H Gilbert in 1904. The 50-foot-wide mansion contains seven condo units. The penthouse has three beds and three full baths, as well as 2,800 square feet of outdoor space.
The top floor has a screening room and game room; the second level features a terrace that looks out onto Central Park, while the lowest floor has the primary bedroom with south-facing windows and another terrace. The middle floor contains an open-concept great room, eat-in kitchen and access to the terrace.
In the most recent StreetEasy listing, the home was also listed to rent for $75,000 per month.
Last May, Chanos also sold his South Beach condo for $17.8 million after buying it for $3.1 million in 2003.
The selloffs come after Chanos announced in 2023 that he was winding down his famed hedge fund, which he ran for nearly four decades. The fund saw its AUM shrink to less than $200 million from the $6 billion it managed in 2008, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Chanos’ claim to fame was pointing to irregularities in gas-pipeline company Enron’s public filings in 2001. That same year, the hyped energy firm imploded, filing for bankruptcy in one of the most notorious examples of corporate fraud in history.
The short seller also bet correctly on the financial crisis of 2008-09, but in recent years struggled to turn profits on his short positions against electric car maker Tesla while the market for bear trading has dried up.
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