Ken Griffin Revealed as 740 Park Avenue Co-op Buyer

One of New York City’s richest women sold to one of the richest men in the world.

Julia Koch officially parted ways with an 18-room spread at a famed Lenox Hill co-op building, The Real Deal reported last week. The identity of the buyer was unclear at the time, but the Wall Street Journal reported it was Citadel founder Ken Griffin who plunked down $45 million for the home at 740 Park Avenue.

The socialite heiress and widow of billionaire David Koch reportedly began shopping her duplex three years ago, hoping to score as much as $60 million in a sale. She and her husband bought into the exclusive property in 2004 for $17 million.

Corcoran’s Leighton Candler had the listing.

The Rosario Candela-designed building contains 31 units, many of which have housed the country’s most influential and wealthy names, like John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and a young Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Hedge funder Israel Englander set the record for a co-op sale price when he bought a duplex in the building for $71.3 million in 2014.

Griffin is no stranger to New York City’s ultra-luxury sales. In 2019, he closed on a record deal for a massive penthouse at 220 Central Park South. He paid $238 million for the unit, which was below the original asking price, but still a record-setting deal in United States history.

Griffin’s other homes include a $122 million London mansion near Buckingham Palace, a Hamptons estate he bought from Calvin Klein for $84.4 million, a $107 million estate in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood and land in Palm Beach that has cost Griffin more than $450 million.

Now, he has another perch from which to watch the development of 350 Park Avenue, a 62-story office tower that will be anchored by Citadel. The Midtown East project, which is also being spearheaded by Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management, is expedited to start going through the public review process early this year.

— Holden Walter-Warner