Once-“King of Wall Street” John Gutfreund’s 20-room co-op lists for $120M

The sprawling Fifth Avenue co-op owned for decades by recently-deceased, one-time Wall Street titan John Gutfreund is hitting the market, at a price fit for a “Master of the Universe.” 

The financier’s widow, Susan Gutfreund, is selling their 12,000-square-foot, 20-room duplex apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue on Central Park East, asking $120 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The apartment features a 1,600-square-foot master bedroom – larger than some suburban homes – along with three other bedrooms, a 50-foot-long living room with two fireplaces, a grand marble staircase and butler’s pantry with a walk-in steel safe for storing silverware.

One of the most sought-after addresses in the city, 834 Fifth Avenue doesn’t allow financing for co-op purchases.

Brown Harris Stevens’s John Burger is one of the listing agents, according to the Journal.

Gutfreund was head of Wall Street investment firm Salomon Brothers throughout the 1980s. He took the firm public at the beginning of his tenure, one of the first of many Wall Street investment houses to follow that route.

In 1991, he was forced to resign in the face of a major bond scandal at the bank.

He was featured prominently – and unflatteringly – in author Michael Lewis’ debut book, “Liar’s Poker,” published in 1989.

“Your fucking book destroyed my career,” Lewis reported Gutfruend telling him later on, “and it made yours.” [WSJ] – Ariel Stulberg