Billionaire Ken Griffin Sells Final Chicago Property as He Completes Move to Florida

Billionaire hedge fund founder Ken Griffin has completed his transition from Chicago to Miami, with the final condo in his Windy City real estate portfolio now under contract.

A full-floor duplex penthouse at Park Tower, a luxury condo complex at 800 N. Michigan Ave., has been sold, Griffin's spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg News.

The property, listed by Susan Miner at Premiere Relocation, is a $12.5-million six-bedroom, 6.5-bath condo built in 2000.

The 9,250-square-foot top unit is described as the "crown jewel" of Park Tower and being offered as "raw space, ready for your custom design."

The unit has 12-foot ceilings, 360-degree panoramic views, and a private elevator entrance. It also boasts three private outdoor spaces with a custom jacuzzi deck, a semi-enclosed balcony, and a 400-square-foot rooftop terrace with a custom outdoor kitchen.

Whoever snapped up the property will have plenty of security: The pad comes with facial recognition entry, lockdown mode, a secured private elevator foyer, and 24-hour building security.

The new owner will also enjoy amenity privileges at the five-star Park Hyatt Hotel next door. Realtor.com® reached out to the seller's agent, Miner, for comment.

While the asking price was shaved from the original $15,750,000 list price in July, Griffin still made a hefty profit given that the condo was purchased in 2000 for $6.9 million.

The penthouse comes with monthly fees of $8,446.

Trading Chicago for Miami

The sale of the penthouse marks the end of a sweeping divestment from Chicago in favor of South Florida.

Griffin began moving the global headquarters of his Citadel and Citadel Securities to Miami from Chi Town in June 2022, telling Bloomberg that his planned office tower in Miami's Brickell neighborhood will probably cost around $2.5 billion.

"There’s something very special about the government in Florida and their focus on delivering traditional values for the community," he said at the Economic Club of Miami, according to Fox News.

He also raved about the Sunshine State in October 2025 at a Citadel Securities conference hosted by Bloomberg.

"South Florida has something that the rest of the world wants. It has oceanfront property in a state with extraordinarily safe streets, great schools, strong sense of community, great cultural institutions," he said.

"Miami is one of the most vibrant cities in the world. With respect to a real estate portfolio, you’d be hard-pressed to beat the returns of real estate in South Florida over the last seven years."

While exclusive Palm Beach and adjacent towns are still going gangbusters, much of Florida has seen returns shrink in the last few years thanks to soaring HOA and insurance costs.

And across Florida's eight largest metro areas, median sales prices for existing homes and condos are projected to fall an average of 1.9% in 2026, well below the 2.2% positive gain the forecast expects nationally.

Among those top Florida markets, only Miami is expected to eke out a positive gain in home prices next year, with projected price growth of 1.1%.

If it's real estate returns Griffin was after, he likely would have fared better back in Chicago, where price growth is expected to reach 4.4% in 2026, according to Realtor.com data.

But chances are Griffin, who is worth $50.4 billion according to Forbes, was drawn to South Florida for many reasons, including a pro-business environment with favorable corporate, property, and personal tax structures. And, of course, there's the main reason he says he fled Chi Town: crime.

"I've lived in a failed city-state," he told Fox News at the America Business Forum in November. "I lived in Chicago for 30-some years. I had two colleagues who had bullets fly through their cars. I had 25 bullet holes in the front of my building where I lived. You can't live in a city awash [with] violent crime."

Brickell, Miami

Griffin's chosen neighborhood for his new headquarters is financial district Brickell, which thanks to businesses like Citadel pulling up stakes from cities like Chicago, is thriving, local agent Judy Zeder of Coldwell Banker Realty tells Realtor.com.

"[Griffin] isn't the only person who has moved to Miami," she says. "There is a lot of movement from New York, Chicago, San Francisco."

Dense, walkable Brickell has a lot in common with those cities, she says.

"You don't really need a car, people use Uber. It's dog friendly, there's a lot of gyms, great restaurants, music and art venues, culture, and no matter what time you go out, day or night, there's a lot of people walking around, so it's very exciting."

It also boasts direct access to the Miami airport and other South Florida cities via the fast speed rail system, Brightline.

"I think it reminds people of the areas they're used to living in and where they're coming from," says Zeder.

The area's home values have certainly exploded. The median home price has jumped from $459,725 in November 2016 to $755,000 in 2025. But that is down 9% from 2023, the year after Griffin arrived, when the median hit a high of $835,725.

Where Griffin has put down roots

It is exclusive enclaves Palm Beach and Star Island where Griffin himself has chosen to live and amass residential real estate worth over $1 billion.

The fund manager invested $450 million into developing the parcel at 1247 S. Ocean Boulevard on Billionaires Row, just a quarter-mile from Mar-a-Lago.

It will include a $150 million to $400 million house on eight of the 27 acres. When complete, the massive 50,000-square-foot estate will be worth $1 billion, according to the New York Post.

"Anyone who aims to build the most expensive property in the world isn't focused on the investment side," luxury real estate broker Samantha DeBianchi, of Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Listing” fame, told Realtor.com.

"Palm Beach is an elite area of the 'who's who' and home to some of the most spectacular properties in the world—and naturally, Ken wants his property to be the centerpiece."

“He’s a whale’s whale," property appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel tells Realtor.com. “In my career, I’ve really never run into somebody that singularly has dominated a segment of the market in so many different places. He’s a prolific buyer of full retail-price real estate.”

The money manager also owns at least seven properties on Star Island totaling nearly 6.5 acres, worth at least $170 million.

He was recently granted permission to build a megamarina across the bay at 120 MacArthur Causeway, where he can park his megayacht, Viva, which reportedly cost him $175 million.

According to Bloomberg, the development will have four buildings, including a two-story building for the billionaire's personal use with a pool, art gallery, and office space. And there will be a separate headquarters with a gym and pool for his yacht crew.

"I haven't been [on Terminal Island] for years, but the last time I was, it wasn't pretty," Sam DeBianchi LaViola, the first female real estate agent on "Million Dollar Listing Miami," tells Realtor.com.

She says that taking over a site that has "lost its luster" and transforming it into a luxury destination can be a winning move for all.

"Attracting the yachting/marina demographic naturally brings a lot of wealth to the area," she says.