Billionaires’ Row · Provenance Record
220 Central Park South, Penthouse
$238,000,000 · recorded 2019
Midtown, New York, NY
Citadel founder Ken Griffin's four-floor penthouse atop Vornado Realty Trust's Robert A.M. Stern–designed tower at 220 Central Park South closed at $238 million in January 2019, a price that remains the highest ever paid for a home in the United States. Griffin first agreed to the purchase in 2015, while the 79-story limestone building was still under construction.
Sale Price
$238,000,000
Precise Recorded Price
$239,958,219
Record Date
January 23, 2019
Status
Closed
Property Type
New Development Condominium (Penthouse)
Listing Agent(s)
Deborah Kern, Cathy Taub
Listing Brokerage
The Corcoran Group
Buyer’s Agent(s)
Tal Alexander, Oren Alexander
Buyer’s Brokerage
Douglas Elliman
Ownership Lineage
Every press-verified change of hands on record for this property, in order.
Groundbreaking
Vornado Realty Trust begins construction
Vornado Realty Trust begins construction on 220 Central Park South, a 79-story limestone tower designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects with interiors by the late Thierry W. Despont, at an estimated total project cost of $1.4 billion. The building sits on Billionaires’ Row at the southern edge of Central Park.
Sources: NBC News, Resident.com
Contract Signed
Ken Griffin agrees to buy the top-floor penthouse
Citadel founder Ken Griffin first signs a contract for the roughly 24,000-square-foot, four-floor penthouse while the building is still under construction; the purchase is reported to be in negotiation as early as this year.
Sources: StreetEasy, 6sqft
Sold · $238,000,000
Griffin closes at a U.S. residential sale record
Griffin closes on the penthouse for $238 million (recorded precisely as $239,958,219), the highest price ever paid for a home in the United States, a record that still stood as of 2026. The seller was Vornado chairman and CEO Steven Roth, represented by Deborah Kern and Cathy Taub of The Corcoran Group; Griffin was represented by Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander of Douglas Elliman. The 16-bedroom, 17-bathroom residence spans the building’s top four floors with five balconies and a private terrace facing the park.
Sources: NBC News, Bloomberg, 6sqft, Traded, PiedATerreTax.nyc
Press Citations
Every fact on this page traces to one of these sources.
NBC News
New York City Condo Sold for U.S. Record $238 Million
NBC News confirmed the record purchase price and details of Vornado's development of the tower.
January 2019
Bloomberg
Ken Griffin’s Buying Binge Shows He’s the Ultimate Trophy Hunter
Bloomberg reported the closing as a U.S. residential record, noting Griffin's purchase came days after a record-setting London home purchase.
January 2019
6sqft
Billionaire Ken Griffin Buys $240M NYC Penthouse, the Most Expensive Home Sold in the U.S.
6sqft traced the penthouse's marketing history back to 2015 and confirmed the final $238 million closing price as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
January 2019
Traded
Traded recorded the transaction details, naming Deborah Kern of The Corcoran Group as representing seller Steven Roth and Tal and Oren Alexander of Douglas Elliman representing buyer Ken Griffin.
2019
PiedATerreTax.nyc
The $238 Million Apartment That Started the Pied-à-Terre Tax
This retrospective confirmed the precise recorded sale price of $239,958,219 and the building's off-market sales process.
July 2026
How This Record Was Verified
- Method
- Compiled from public property records and their named press citations. This lineage reflects only transactions independently confirmed by the sources cited.
- Open entries
- Sources vary on whether to round the sale price to $238 million or $240 million; the precise recorded figure of $239,958,219 is used here where available. Provenance Record's own prior listing credited “Cathy Taub & Deborah Kern” as the transaction's agents; Traded additionally names Tal and Oren Alexander of Douglas Elliman as representing the buyer, which is reflected above.
- Sources
- Every fact above carries its own citation, linked in the Press Citations section. Sourced from NBC News, Bloomberg, 6sqft, Traded, and PiedATerreTax.nyc.
- Corrections
- Unconditional and not contingent on any commercial relationship. See Corrections Policy.