Biotech billionaire pays $26M for 220 CPS pad

54th-floor pad traded for $8,131 psf

 Li Ge and 220 Central Park South (Credit: WuXi Biologics and Getty Images)
Li Ge and 220 Central Park South (Credit: WuXi Biologics and Getty Images)

The founder of a major Chinese biotech company is the latest billionaire to call 220 Central Park South home.

Records show an entity linked to Li Ge, chairman of WuXi Biologics, forked over $26.2 million for a 54th-floor pad at the limestone tower. The deed was signed by Li’s wife, Ning Zhao.

The billionaire, who is worth an estimated $5.1 billion, according to Forbes, earned a PhD in organic chemistry from Columbia University and co-founded WuXi PharmaTech in 2000. The company, which supplies services to pharmaceutical and medical device companies, went public in 2007.

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According to the listing, the unit has three bedrooms and measures 3,222 square feet. It was originally asking $27.5 million, according a description provided by the Corcoran Group. The purchase price works out to $8,131 per foot.

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The discount is a rare phenomenon at 220 Central Park South, which has had an enviable run of late. However, sales launched in 2015 and many deals went into contract before the luxury market softened. Closings began last year.

In January, Citadel’s Ken Griffin paid a record $238 million for the condo’s top penthouse, a quadplex measuring 23,000 square feet.

In July, Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, closed on their $65.7 million penthouse at 220 CPS.

Other buyers include David Mandelbaum, an early Steve Roth backer and Vikings owner, Paramount Group’s Albert Behler, British construction heiress Renata de Camargo and Daniel Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management.