US tycoons with a combined net worth of more than $130bn have bought apartments at the Peninsula in London, an exclusive residential development situated inside a luxury hotel.
Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman, Citadel hedge fund founder Ken Griffin and WhatsApp founder Jan Koum have all bought homes at the Belgravia site, according to Land Registry records and people familiar with the matter.
Financier Todd Boehly, former American football team owner Dan Snyder and John Liew, founding principal of AQR Capital Management, have also purchased apartments.
The apartment building inside the five-star hotel, which opened in 2023 and enjoys views of Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, has sold 20 residences. The final six are coming to market this autumn.
Residents have access to a 25-metre indoor swimming pool with a “sculptural ceiling inspired by an ice cave”, according to marketing materials seen by the Financial Times, and a chauffeured Rolls-Royce car fleet.
Agents said the purchases reflected a broader increase in Americans finding second and third homes in London in recent months, as US citizens make record applications for UK citizenship.
From left: Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman, Citadel hedge fund founder Ken Griffin and WhatsApp founder Jan Koum © Bloomberg
“Certainly US buyers have become the most important demographic in prime central London development,” said Rupert des Forges, head of prime central London development sales at Knight Frank, which sold residences at the Peninsula.
“The average price of an apartment holds the record as the most expensive building in London, and the most expensive penthouse sold in London, per square foot,” he added of the building.
Des Forges began selling properties off-plan in 2018, meaning they were sold before they were completed. He declined to comment on specific buyers, who can enjoy room service and fresh flowers that “align with the residents’ preferred style or interiors scheme”, according to marketing materials.
Peninsula chefs can also work with residents’ vets to “create bespoke . . . menus that support” the dietary needs of their pets.
Schwarzman — whose Peninsula purchase cost £40mn — has an estimated net worth of $55.3bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In 2022, he bought a 2,500-acre country estate on the border between Wiltshire and Hampshire for £80mn.
Industry figures said Griffin’s purchase of the Belgravia penthouse for more than £100mn had spurred other buyers. The acquisition came after Griffin, worth $48.3bn, paid £95mn for a Georgian house near Buckingham Palace in 2019.
“He is a collector of trophies,” said Ian Pidgeon, director of residential development sales in London at estate agency Savills. “When you look at what he owns in New York, that gives further gravitas to buyers for being part of the same journey.”
Koum has a net worth of $20.3bn, while Chelsea FC co-owner Boehly has a net worth of $8.7bn.
Representatives for Schwarzman, Griffin, AQR Capital Management and the Peninsula declined to comment. A representative for Boehly did not return messages seeking comment. Koum did not respond to requests for comment. Snyder could not be reached for comment.
The Peninsula is a comparatively small hotel chain, with just 12 sites around the world, and is considered high-end by the wealthy. Its London outpost cost just over £1bn to build.
The Peninsula London: advisers said buyers had wanted the advantages of living in a hotel while retaining a homelike feel © The Peninsula
Buyers in the UK capital can choose from two-bedroom properties starting from 2,500 sq ft and three-bedroom homes more than 4,000 sq ft. Some offer views of the gardens and tennis court of Buckingham Palace.
Advisers said there had been competition among buyers, who wanted the advantages of living in a hotel while retaining a homelike feel, but agents said smaller flats, as well as those with less appealing views, were proving harder to offload.
More than 4,120 US citizens applied for British citizenship in the first half of 2025, the highest number since records began and a 39 per cent rise on the same period in 2024, according to official data.
US citizens and residents have also been donating large sums to UK charities in recent years, with venture capitalist Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman, giving £150mn to the National Gallery last month.
The Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities is due to open this month at Oxford university, after a donation of £185mn by the Blackstone chief executive.
Additional reporting by Arash Massoudi and Amy Borrett in London and Antoine Gara in New York