Hedge funder Ken Griffin snags $49M mortgage for Palm Beach estate

Hedge funder Ken Griffin scored a $49 million mortgage for one of his oceanfront estates in Palm Beach.

Providencia Partners, tied to Griffin, secured the loan from Citibank for his estate at 60 Blossom Way, records show. Griffin, the founder of Chicago-based Citadel Securities, paid $99.1 million for the 18,452-square-foot mansion in September. It is next to Griffin’s 12-acre property at 1265 South Ocean Boulevard, which he bought for $85 million in 2017, records show.

When Griffin acquired the 60 Blossom Way mansion last year, he did not take out a mortgage, meaning that he could be securing a mortgage now to take advantage of record-low interest rates or to free up his cash.

A spokesperson for Citadel declined to comment.

Griffin purchased the property from billionaire real estate investor Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the time, it marked the second most expensive residential sale in history for the exclusive island. McCourt had paid $77 million for the mansion in 2017.

The home was built in 2008, and has eight bedrooms, pools, a separate dining pavilion, and hardwood and marble finishes.

Griffin has spent a total of about $350 million on properties in Palm Beach, records show.

He has also purchased residential properties elsewhere. Last year, he spent a record $238 million to buy a penthouse at 220 Central Park South in Manhattan.

Griffin made news this month for setting up a trading room for Citadel Securities at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, prior to the county’s order closing all hotels in Palm Beach County. Griffin flew in traders and staff from his New York and Chicago offices to work out of the temporary trading floor.