Billionaire Ken Griffin pays record $238m for Manhattan apartment

A Manhattan apartment has just been sold for $238m (£183m) - the most expensive home ever sold in the US.

The property, in the luxury 220 Central Park South building, has four floors and - naturally - overlooks the famous New York park.

The buyer is billionaire Ken Griffin, founder of the hedge fund Citadel.

Mr Griffin, 50, also made headlines on Monday for buying another high-priced property - a $124m house near Buckingham Palace in London.

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He already holds records for buying the most expensive apartments in Miami, which he bought for $60m in 2015, and in Chicago, which he spent almost $59m on last year.

The billionaire also owns three other luxury homes in Chicago, six in the Palm Beach area of Florida, and two homes in Hawaii.

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Before he bought the Central Park flat, the most expensive home in the US was a house in East Hampton that was sold for $137m in 2014.

Apartments in 220 Central Park South seem to be selling relatively quickly, despite slumps in the luxury property market in New York.

In October last year, Vornado Realty Trust disclosed that the building was about 83% sold.

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Image captionKen Griffin has bought a string of expensive homes

Tong Tong Zhao, the founder of a Shanghai-based hotel management company, has bought a two-bedroom flat on the building's 27th floor for $13.5m.

The musician Sting and his wife Trudie Styler are also reportedly buying an apartment in the building.

The 66-storey skyscraper was designed by the US architect Robert A M Stern, and is located on a street appropriately named Billionaire's Row.