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Did Bill Gates just buy a house in Chicago?
The home in Hyde Park was bought by an attorney who’s handled real estate transactions for the Gates family
Bill and Melinda Gates live in a 66,000-square-foot compound in Medina, Washington with the “Citizen Kane”-inspired name “Xanadu 2.0.”
It took seven years and $63 million to build, and it’s now worth $125 million.
Now it appears they’ve set their sights on something a little more … modest — well, by Bill and Melinda Gates standards.
A trust linked to the Microsoft founder and his wife closed on a five-bedroom home in Hyde Park for $1.25 million on April 4th, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The house is at 5476 South Ellis Avenue, according to Cook County records.
At 3,000 square feet, it’s not much bigger than the 2,300-square-foot ballroom in the Xanadu 2.0 estate. So what would draw one of the world’s richest couples to it?
Attorney Christopher Carletti, who has represented the couple in past real estate deals, is listed on the property’s deed as its trustee. He did not respond to numerous requests for comment from the Tribune, so it’s not really clear what the purpose of the purchase was, or its ties to Gates.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Koenig Rubloff’s Shirley Walker was the listing agent. Dana Gerstenschlager of @properties represented the buyer.
The deed says property tax bills will be sent to an address in the Seattle area that is used by the Gates family for its private business activities.
Forbes recently pegged Gates’ net worth at about $90 billion, which would make him the wealthiest person to own a home in Chicago.
Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is currently the wealthiest resident of the city (and the state, for that matter), with an estimated net worth of $9 billion. [Chicago Tribune] –Scott Klocksin