Sometimes, a hedge fund billionaire just can't catch a break. Just ask Steve Cohen.
The American investor, art collector and, for some, the Gatsby of our era, is reportedly fuming because he cannot find a buyer for his stunning US$100 million ($115.6 million) penthouse suite in New York City. So why is no one interested in his duplex?
Some think this is a case of "bad karma" stemming from an insider trading scandal that rocked his seemingly perfect life last year: After all, money is not a problem in the Upper East Side and who wouldn't want to live in a house like this? As for Cohen, well, he's blaming his estate agent for the fiasco.
"Cohen hasn't had a buyer, and he blames his broker for it," one source told the New York Post. "Furious is not the word. He's had enough."
The hedge fund titan put his duplex up for sale in April last year for a whopping US$115 million. But, despite his generous decision to slash US$17 million ($19.6 million) off the price to make it a bargain at US$98 million, the four-bedroom property just isn't selling after more than a year on the market without a buyer.
The 836sq m apartment has five bathrooms, two dressing rooms, touch pads in every room for temperature and lights, and impressive views of Central Park and downtown Manhattan.
Cohen, whose personal net worth is estimated by Forbes magazine to be around US$10 billion, made headlines last year after his firm, SAC Capital, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and agreed to pay a US$1.8 billion fine to settle the case, marking a low point in his stellar run in the world of finance.
The hedge fund magnate is still living large. Last year, he reportedly took home US$2.4 billion in compensation, exceeding SAC's US$1.8 billion fine, and added Pablo Picasso's Le Reve to his impressive art collection for US$155 million - reportedly the highest price ever paid by a US collector for an artwork.
- Independent