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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 to right: Stephen Schwarzman, Ken Griffin, and Jan Koum.
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.
Map of central London highlighting The Peninsula hotel, located between Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace.
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
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
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025. All rights reserved.

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The UK let Dan Smyder in? I hope they realize what a prize donkey they now get to rub elbpws with. Roundly disliked everywhere he crouches. And I was just scraping together my savings….
I don't understand why the UK, with its immense housing shortage, still allows non residents to purchase property. At least put a big fat tax on non resident purchases that goes into a social housing fund. This is insane.
So replacing the Russian Oligarchs with the American Oligarchs
Its just gross. Majority can't afford a single house and these folks buying up vast numbers of properties.
Is it just me or are more of these guys giving off the emperor palpatine vibe
American buyers are not ‘a demography,’
The Peninsula London: advisers said buyers had wanted the advantages of living in a hotel while retaining a homelike feel
It's like they snuck into my home and took a photo of my living room!
Stay in the US. They’ve inflicted enough on us by allowing Trump second, and maybe third, term.
I have a game - spot the anti semites - I'm at 4 already but getting bored
You must have a lot of time on your hands.
I can't quite see the attraction of living on the corner of what is surely the busiest traffic junction in central London, and who wants a side view of Buck palace- I mean, it's hardly an architectural gem, issit? There are few shops withinwalking distance- it's a desert around there- a choice of Victoria or Oxford Street I guess?
If the residents wish to do their own shopping, then Waitrose, Harvey Nichols, Harrods, and the myriad fashion stores of Sloane Street are within easy walking distance.
And Mayhews newsagent is a block and a few steps away.
Kenneth Griffin also owns 3 Carlton Gardens, an absolute gem of a property!
How many clicks would it take to determine how much stamp duty was paid?
(Edited)
Why would buy this? And not a penthouse in Kensington, Chelsea, Hampstead, Belgravia etc.

That road is an absolute tourist trap....
Room service basically.
Will push up demand from Asian billionaires.
Must want their bonces looked at ?
It will sit empty forever. This is just a way to preserve wealth - well, you knew that - nobody would live there.
Is that a replica of the Quadriga on Brandenburg gate?
(Edited)
If you are referring to the sculpture on top of Wellington Arch, that is the Angel of Peace descending on the Chariot of War. The arch celebrates the Duke of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo. His very well-appointed London residence Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, is just across the road.
Looks like a depressing place, as so many places in London. No wonder so many choose for the high quality of life in Amsterdam, which now becomes too crowded with expats :-(
Hahaha high quality life in Amsterdam?!???? Good one
Oh yes let me queue right up for that Dutch cuisine and culture…
I’ve never heard anyone say, “Let’s go out for British food."
How is there no mention in this article that these are USD investors buying GBP assets completing in 2023? These assets have appreciated over 20% which is surely the main driver for their purchases back when sterling was weak.
All it does is inflate non-productive asset prices in London, so it is actually just inflationary, which is of course actually bad for an economy.
The UK ought to be far more restrictive selling property to foreigners. Nonsense like this will just make it even harder for normal Brits to purchase a place to live.
Kindly define 'normal Brit'?

Thank you.
Native born UK citizens
We're 'Subjects' NOT 'Citizens'.

We have a Monarch & the UK isn't a Republic.

Thank you for your response. For what it's worth this Non Dom / Res Subject agrees with you.
No ‘normal’ person - Brit or otherwise- would live at the peninsula.
Don’t be a normie then
Ultimately, purchases like this represent a negligible proportion of the UK property market. Maybe they push up prices in certain very expensive corners of Central London, but they have almost no impact on normal Brits
So many people jealous of the wealth of some and I get it. However, the more you bloat the welfare system with borrowed money, ironically, the richer the wealthy become-- cause they loan out that money to governments at annually compounding interest. The middle class will need to cover the interest payments.
Lols, drs pay far higher taxes than these abusive oligarchs, and THAT is what bloats their wealth. Giving money to the neediest ensures it is spent in more productive ways, not multimillion pound unproductive boondoggles.
All that's wrong with the UK housing sector in a nutshell
And how do purchases from an extremely negligible part of the population affect the UK housing market?
They are occupying land that could be much better utilised for housing purposes for a start
Does anyone really need over 50 billion dollars?
They say you can live just as well on $5 Billion, but I wouldn’t want to try it.
lol
Yes
What a Try hard you’ll never get there and it won’t fill the hole inside
Ikea Art work, catalogue sofas and just, maybe real palm plants.
I think Peninsular pushed the boat out on the plants.
This is more a function of optionality on the future of the US republic than a vote of confidence in the UK
Is the map trying to market how "far away" the tube network is from the hotel ? There is a station opposite the Peninsular at Hyde Park Corner, mysteriously absent on your map. Does no-one at the FT use the Piccadilly line ?
(Edited)
In addition to the Hyde Park Corner tube stop not being marked, the Knightsbidge and Green Park tube stops are also absent. Even though Mr Schwarzman could walk to his office in Berkeley Square in 15 minutes, or be chauffeured there in one of the hotel's Rolls Royces, for the sake of completeness, these stops should be on the map. I know several affluent senior citizens who travel around London on public transport using the free travel passes provided to Londoners who are 60 and over.
(Edited)
Oops, the age limit for a Freedom Pass is now 66. Mr Schwarzman would still qualify if London was his main residence.
I’m not sure the average billionaire will be using the tubes.
I wouldn't bet on that. The tube is often the fastest way to get around town. Not long ago, I saw the former Chairman of one of the world's largest banks on a London bus. But then he is a Brit, seems to be a man of frugal tastes and is a mere multi-millionaire, not a billionaire.
Bruce Flatt of Brookfield takes the tube
Canadians do tend to be unflashy.
Bruce Flatt, CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, worth 7.1 billion takes the tube
There guys are going to be fat geese for the UK Government to pluck with the new property taxes. These guys will be paying £1mm a year soon. Personally I think this would be a much better way of raising revenue than taxing British workers.
These people pay less tax than their secretaries as Buffet pointed out many years ago: their tax avoidance & evasion schemes aLa the Paradise papers ensures this.
Can anyone document the Stamp Duty collected on these sales?
If any?
Crickets.
'The Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities'

As oxymorons go, that's an Oscar ⭐ winner .....
It’s a typo, ‘inhumanities’
✅.....I know....FT Ed. Dept. Proof readers.....you're correct Scotti
Exactly. The unfortunate President Biden dared once to criticise Netanyahu's actions in Gaza, and SS switched a $4million donation from Democrats to Republicans. I expect that SS is buying more than real estate in UK.
So much for the claim that all the billionaires are fleeing “broken Britain”.
These are US persons subject to US taxes wherever they go, unlike the res non does who can go anywhere for tax optimisation. These billionaires won't be in the UK for more than 2-3 weeks a year, if at all. Effectively exchanging res doms that spent a fortune around London throughout the year, with a few people that might turn up for a few days.
Are any spots reserved for social housing???
The receptionist's office
Mr Schwarzman's apartment includes a public washroom.
Look up the planning consent and Section 106 if you’re interested
The poor chaps need to share the pool?!
Haha
But you told us the millionaires are LEAVING
Presumably these people are only here for less than 89 days per year and so not tax-resident in the UK in the first place, so have no incentive to leave’just because the Labour government wants to ruin them?

And worth remembering that a lot of the rich who “leave” the UK retain a residence at their disposal if not technically owned by them, but spend their time mostly abroad to avoid tax liability.
These people will use the apartments 2-3 weeks a year. They will lend them to friends, but mostly sit idle. They have no intention of living in the UK.
(Edited)
UK needs and welcomes lots of wealthy people buying our goods and services. That is how our country acted once upon a time ago.
The wealthy don’t spend their money in the locality of where they live.
They do some small fraction of it. In this case they bought an appartment and will spend some money while here.
“Koum did not respond to WhatsApp messages”
Lol- Jan has left the group
Taxes on the super rich are too low
(Edited)
Earth to Whoever: These billionaires built up enormous businesses from scratch that benefited society enourmously by employing collectively thousands of employees. Moreover, these billionaires and their collective thousands of employees create a huge virtual cycle by spending enormous amounts of money on real estate and whatnot, in turn employing thousands of construction contractors and boat makers, who in turn spend their money on various goods and services. Maybe some introspection and some basic economics courses are due on your part, by admitting what you’re advocating are jealousy taxes.
(Edited)
"These billionaires built up enormous businesses from scratch"

Yeah -- somewhere.

In London they’ll be paying for a few housecleaners and waiters.
Uhhhh…..Cute answer but completely wrong. Any cursory Google search will show that Griffen’s Citadel’s European ops are located in London, and the firm is building a new world-class office at 2 Finsbury Ave. Schwartzmann’s Blackstone also has a significant London presence, and is also building new offices in Berkeley Square. Both firms are probably employing hundreds in London……
(Edited)
OK — that’s 2.
No it’s not……In British Pounds, it’s tens of millions of annual recurring spending……
Maybe.

Or maybe they just come around occasionally.

Where I live the owner of a £95mn house would pay £1 Million per year in council tax.
though a lot of it came from debt inflated asset prices courtesy of loose monetary policy
Indeed. It’s always amusing to see the same group of commenters post tripe comments based upon envy.
Well when it all pops off we now know where to aim the angry hordes.
It's extremely encouraging to see these wealth creators at least putting one foot into the UK as it is a vote of confidence in our economy. Also I'm sure their philanthropy is very welcome.

However I still cannot understand how an apartment can be worth tens of millions of pounds. Like the previous day's article about the flats in Mumbai...it boggles the brain to try and understand the value proposition of such a purchase.
I always thought that only people who can't afford a house would live in an apartment
positional goods. Royalty adjacent property.
No, they are buying now in anticipation of a Reform victory.
Hahaha wealth creators
I imagine the social tennants have their own entrance.....
Doesn’t sound like the mega wealthy Americans agree with the Doomster narrative being peddled by the media.
Mind boggling wealth.
(Edited)
That bit of Belgravia has zero London atmosphere. Office blocks, big hotels, and loads of empty houses now owned by Arabs and the glitterati. No loss there then.

Shouldn’t think these Americans will spend much time there either.
Peninsula chefs can also work with residents’ vets to “create bespoke . . . menus that support” the dietary needs of their pets.
Oughhhh oooooh I’m turning into Zack Polanski oughhhh awwwwwhhhh
The most important parameter is probably not their excellent pet food but the security offered by a hotel like this.

But yes getting the right temperature for your cat’s evening caviar doesn’t hurt.
LOL
People who live in London do not need ostentatious private security.
Even in a building full of gun-toting Americans?
There is a reason for this exodus to London, Madrid, Milan…
Funny that the article doesn’t mention it 😊
If they move in sharpish they'll have a great all day view of the Palestine march next weekend - we'll give them a nice wave
You march?
one prefers to be august
By no means just “next weekend”.
I know you want to make a point about all demonstrations but next weekend's is expected to be a particularly big one that anyone at a Hyde Park Corner address would be visually and sonically immersed in most of the day - most marches have modest, passing impact on local inhabitants and are policed with consent to ensure this
It’s odd. What is happening in Gaza / Syria / Lebanon / Palestine / Israel is a terrible tragedy and there are horrific episodes. Lots of truly wicked people are involved.

Nevertheless, Britain has absolutely no say in how the conflicts in Israel / Palestine are conducted and resolved and absolutely no influence over the various participants.

Further, Britain’s security and safety and defence will not be affected one bit, whatever the outcome of all these interlinked conflicts and tragedies.

Further, Britain has almost no trade with the affected countries and almost no tourism to or from them. Britain’s prosperity and economic situation will not be affected at all, whatever the outcome of all these interlinked conflicts and tragedies.

Why then are there so many demonstrations in London about these issues? It’s got nothing to do with us.
(Edited)
I cannot quickly correct your determination to avoid the many deep historical interconnections and cross-currents here but on the influence and statesmanship points perhaps reflect on why Italy's Meloni is reportedly taking urgent notice of the major demonstrations about Gaza in Italy this week. Trump's proposals have no prospect of traction if European leaders oppose them, however much JD Vance claims to despise Europe while holidaying in the Cotswolds.
Meanwhile the war in Ukraine is a direct threat to our safety and security and has ten times the casualties of the conflicts in the Middle East.

Further, the wars in Sudan, Ethiopia and the Congo are very large and almost unreported.

Why exactly should we be treated to large, weekly demonstrations about Gaza, that are sometimes violent and always extreme? Vague imprecations about “many deep historical interconnections and cross-currents” are not an argument. It’s got almost nothing to do with the UK and we cannot affect the outcome in any way.
there is an irony that this thread appears on an article about luxury property
Because you are meant to be responsible for everything that previous generations of English people have done going back thousands of years
In that case there is room for a facetious request for the Romans to see us right……..
Indeed. We could launch a class action against the Italians and call it the Boudicca principle!
that's eastern orthodox
Haven’t they heard what a dreadful mess starmer and reeves are making. They’re not supposed to want to come to spend their money the uk. I don’t understand???
They are making huge profits from the UK and should buy here.
Their money is out of Labour’s reach, and in four years Labour will be gone forever.
What was that definition of madness again, someone who wants a return of the Tories to trash the economy again….🥸
who said anything about a return of the Tories . . .
The Tories will definitely return.
Trashing the economy is what Labout is doing, or hadn't you noticed?
… but but but why are they spending money in a labour wasteland … don’t they know no-one with cash wants to come here
wh wh wh tf are you even on about?
Not to be unpleasant, but that drawing room is vile. Apologies if someone has such furniture. In my opinion, It looks like a cheap priority pass lounge.
All that's missing are 150+ credit card entrants crammed in smashing cheap fizzy lager and G&Ts at 10:30 am.
…..and who chose the ‘art’ on the wall? It is vile, whoever did the design needs firing. Shockingly bad.
The Schwartzman Centre is already open. It's beautiful.
Immigrant aliens from MAGAstan are gladly welcomed and glamourised in the UK whereas non-white immigrants are castigated and vilified...another great article for the next edition of the International Journal of Hypocrisy.
What nonsense. Is this really about skin-colour? I think everyone who brings millions with them is welcomed everywhere. Who else will buy these flats? This isn’t hypocrisy, rather distinction.
London: a barbell city.
There goes the neighborhood…
Wasn’t much of a neighbourhood to begin with. Mostly because of the ramparts surrounding Buckingham Palace.
You can still but one or two of the six remaining apartments coming on the market soon.
(Edited)
My school bus used to go around Hyde Park Corner every morning and evening. I know the neighborhood quite well and have done for over sixty years. It’s always been very fashionable but back in the day we never took it so seriously that one couldn’t live around there. I had a school friend in Wellington Court just down Knightsbridge. His father was a general practice doctor who had started out as a doctor in the Royal Navy. Solidly middle class really. They had a country cottage near Rye as well. All on what a doctor could earn in 1950s and 60s central London. That’s how it was. And as a neighborhood it felt ordinary enough, if more polished than other parts of London we would hang around in (such as the King’s Road).
The Peninsula Group had less luck with their project in Myanmar. After civil war broke out they decided to abandon it. I believe it was a sizeable write-off.
I remember the Peninsula hotel in Manila got invaded by tanks at one point
seems like they've turned to a prudent reduction in risk profile
Wait until they see the inheritance taxes they will have to pay!
None of these people are becoming citizens
There are some Americans thinking about a bolt hole in the ever friendly UK (not many) but this is only relevant to a tiny fraction of the uber rich global elite. For most wealthy Americans the SDLT will put them off before the other obstacles like uncertainty on IHT, council tax and the rigid SRT.

UK not open for business, could be different with a more welcoming attitude to wealthy foreigners and returning UK expats. Please change!
Just what we need. Ultra-wealthy people colonising Britain as if they aren't doing enough damage to sense of community in their own countries.
If you think billionaires are bothered by UK council tax I’ve got a bridge to sell you!
Read my comment again, slowly and comprehend what it says.
(Edited)
the other obstacles like uncertainty on IHT, council tax
If you think billionaires are bothered by uncertainty on council tax I have a bridge to sell you
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.

Everyone complains here about wealthy Americans, but isn't it just a little bit embarrassing for Britain that the largest donations to the UK's two top universities each came from American philanthropists?
Trying to buy culture as they have none. But your point is valid
Americans give vastly more to charity than Brits.
tax break
Google says Brits get tax breaks, too.
I think a lot of US wealthy make full use of the 50% of income tax deductible, but see an account.
Is there some reason the British wouldn’t do the same?
4,120 US citizens applying for UK citizenship in six months is hardly a flood, though.
The UK is the new ark. Trump is busy creating a flood.
They’re Republicans, smarty.
With insider knowledge. Making money from chaos from afar.
Republicans and MAGA aren’t necessarily the same.
There’s no way that Rupert des Forges is a real name.
Yes it is and he a great London agent.
Good at washing your ill-gotten receipts from the Congolese vanadium mines?
Oh, hi Rupert!
yes we bumped into that name under a previous piece so he certainly gets around the FT property spectrum

I love its combo of continental chic, British poshness and surname that would reassure any Russian oligarch with a complex property agenda - you couldnt make it up
American oligarchs have replaced the Russian ones.
they may be less litigious
Flight from the US before the Trump Civil War starts - allegedly.
'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.'
(Edited)
Wow, huge numbers. Soon the US will become empty!
There are 683K Brits living in the U.S. & 139K Americans living in the UK. This is the fakest trend I have seen in a while. The real trend is Brits flooding out of the country to the U.S., Australia, UAE and elsewhere.
Move to the US? Phew I don’t think so
(Edited)
Where I live there are lots of Brit escapees who came here to make their fortunes -- and did.

Doesn’t keep them from claiming that the UK is superior!
(Edited)
I work with multiple Brits in finance who can’t believe how much more they make here. Countless Brits would be flooding into the U.S. if it was easier. I was at a conference last fall in San Francisco talking to someone who just graduated from Oxford who said her friends complained about how hard it was to move to the U.S.

People would be flocking to California, New York, New England, and Florida especially. You think NHS doctors and engineers wouldn’t like to 3-4X their income and live in someplace with sunshine and much better weather?
Given the choice of penniless British fleeing to Australia and Billionaire Americans fleeing to London, I know which trend I would support!🤓
One wonders if the apartments come with share of freehold and what the annual service charge and ground rent is on these properties....? As Schwartzmann heads up Blackstone who have committed to an almighty HQ rebuild on Berkeley Square a 10-15 min walk away, perhaps he was after a more convenient commute given the RTO mandates?
(Edited)
With $53bn it might not be too critical a matter.
"Walk"?? He's American, remember
Weak comment.
He is more likely to cross Hyde Park on a mobility scooter.
You are right. Probably he’ll run it.
hahaha, fair call!
Also, "all the advantages of a hotel"?
Either they've never visited, or they like a side order of diesel with their air.
Ahh that familiar feel of NYC ...
(Edited)
London air is becoming a lot cleaner, thanks to high levels of electric vehicles and the Congestion Zone charges.

Long term trend 2016-2024:-


Spot data:-

Agree, and thank you Sadiq for the ULEZ. But there are still hotspots, and Hyde Park Corner is definitely one of them.
- Griffin and Schwarzman are big Repubblican donors
- Trump says that Europe is going to hell and sharia law is coming to London
- In turn, such Republican donors buy more digs in London.
If "Richie" Reeves can do one thing right: please tax these specific 2nd homes like there is no tomorrow.
First these oligarch Mr Bonespurs donors get the gangster into the office and then promptly find non US residences as they know full well what is to come. Monsters all.
You may not understand this, but what people say in public and what they believe are not the same thing.
Which makes them terrible human beings. And unfortunately they are coming over here.
You may have never heard the phrase "put your money where your mouth is".
As said, tax this real estate like there is no tomorrow.
Nice ‘care home’ vibe going on with that living room.
It really is surreally ugly.
It ain’t Clarridges.
Its the complete opposite compared to the CGIs of uber lux residences being designed in the Line in Neom. Supercars parked on glass floors to drive on a roof circuit.
Quite! Priority Pass lounge of you ask me.
Those sofas on the left have the perfect colour for hiding stains. I'm not sure about the lighter-coloured ones unless they are made of polyurethane.
And the majority of unsold ones?
I think most sold tbh, people were quite surprised when they went for sale, how the larger properties sold more quickly than the one bedroom ones. If any left, it’s the smaller ones.
I agree, the living room on the picture looks positively dreadful. It must be the result of some very subtle joke by the British decorators, to show the uber rich Americans what they think of them and their tastes🥳
But that picture is worth millions.
Actually its the same designer as Channel Boutiques believe or not.
I would imagine it was fortunes but as we all know, money shouts and class whispers
Oh to be Kenneth Griffin's pxxxycat. That would be the life! "Peninsula chefs can also work with residents’ vets to “create bespoke . . . menus that support” the dietary needs of their pets."
We feed our rural cat but his dietary needs also require a supply of live mice, shrews, voles and the occasional baby rabbit. At Peninsula prices he'd expect chef to provide all the above with a decent standing start for the furry items on the menu.
Unfortunately for them property rights eventually cease to exist in a failed state
Yes - they are almost certainly worried about the current trajectory of Trumplandia. Hence the need for alternative accomodation.
Why is this news ?
Exactly...some Americans with lots of money buy expensive property?
Meanwhile, the UK right wing keeps harping on Labour for making the UK supposedly anti-rich. No, what this shows instead is the American billionaires backing Trump know its a double-edged sword and need an escape valve. Shame, regular Yanks like me who actually went to school in the UK and love the country would not get the express path to citizenship like that.
Where are you reading that these billionaires are getting UK citizenship? Or even becoming residents?
They are buying property, but they are not paying any tax here beyond SDLT on their purchase.
Actually, I am pretty sure they did not pay stamp duty
How?
Well they're either paying SDLT or ATED (plus possibly company stamp duty) - either way it's a quantum of tax many times more than you are likely to pay across your entire working life.

I'm grateful for them investing here - it's no skin off my nose and we'd all be making up the tax shortfall without them.
Where would one go online to see the amount of Stamp Duty paid?
If you have the full address you can then search the UK Land Registry to find out who or what entity owns each of the billionaires' properties, and other details. That data from the registry would likely give you very good clues as to what sort of transaction occurred to allow each of the billionaires to "own" each property and reside there. That knowledge would then inform you on the likely SDLT that was paid, or not.

ATED (a relatively new UK tax) was designed to assess an annual tax when the ownership of residential properties changes hand by the transfer of shares in a corporate vehicle that owns such properties, thereby avoiding SDLT because no transfer of the property itself occurs. (I am not an expert: ATED is a complex tax.)
Sounds like it’s very difficult to figure out whether anyone is in fact paying stamp duty.
No, it's usually quite easy: If the property is shown on the land registry in the owner's personal name, then you can be certain that they have paid stamp duty (SDLT in fact). Most UK companies (the vast majority) are held like this : in personal names, and SDLT has been paid.

If instead the property is held in the name of a UK company then searches on the UK companies register can take you further down the ATED enquiry line. (All private companies in the UK have to disclose on the public register some form of their financial results and their ownership structure each year.)

If the property is held by a non-UK entity or in a trust, then it becomes much more difficult to know what tax was paid / is paid each year.
Correction: In the first paragraph I meant, "....most UK PROPERTIES (the vast majority) are held like this: in personal names..."
As non residents and if they are buying a property in their own names then they will pay Non-Residents SLDT. This is an additional 2% tax rate. As its based on the number of days spent in the UK it's difficult to avoid. Buying via a shell company is a different matter, as you say...
“usually quite easy”

Would you be able to tell me how much stamp duty was paid on 3 Carlton Gardens?
They aren’t becoming citizens. They are buying property in prestigious low-supply locations at an advantageous time.
And why is no one questioning about these immigrant aliens flooding the UK as one would otherwise if they were not white?
$$$
Because they are enormous net contributors to the UK and respect and adhere to our cultural and societal traditions?
"they are enormous net contributors to the UK"

Hiring a few cleaning people and waiters?
…American billionaires might not be benign
This living room (on the picture) is dreadful. Are they targeting grannies?
Grannies resent that suggestion.
Looks more Alan Partridge.
It's an extender!
It looks like a room where a convention of therapists get together to practice lines.
"How does this cushion make you feel?"

It really just feels like a mid-upper grade business convention center lounge from the 1990's. Where you have a breather and a bland coffee before the next panel of pre-TED bores lets rip...
(Edited)
Makes Britannia hotels look posh.
Don’t say that! To most Americans it looks grand and very English…
Care home chic!
Care home full point. Chic is not what comes to mind.
It is a hotel, at the end of the day
Not the residence… And I can tell you for sure that the residence comes with the furniture, that you’re not allowed to change!
Weird property to splurge money on. It overlooks the magic roundabout of Hyde Park Corner, which is forever busy and stinks of nitrous oxide.

The Candy development overlooking Hyde park is in a far superior location.
The Candy development overlooking Hyde park is in a far superior location.
Given the danger of bumping into the Candys, however, I’d rather be near a roundabout. Or an abattoir.
The toilets are lovely. You can spend hours in them. Very stimulating.
Bit of a dump.
You can do that too
They can step out of their appartment and go for a run in Green Park and/or Hyde Park. Life doesn't get much better than that.
Yeah, after attempting the dodgy, traffic light-free crossing at Grosvenor Crescent, and then dodging tourists and muggers at Hyde park corner itself!
I am sure these gents go on their jogs with half a dozen burly bodyguards each
I can think of about a million things that are better than that
Regents Park is much nicer, you could get a freehold house in one of the Nash terraces for under £20m.

Then again, these lot are proving the old adage - money cannot buy taste.
very true but I expect for these very wealthy people the cost in time and money to ensure an individual house is secure, and to understand the social nuances of a specific neighbourhood that may be smart but adjacent to less monied accommodation, is just too high when you wont be living there most of the time
Doesn’t Griffin already own a massive house there?
Yes 3 Carlton Gardens, absolute insane mansion.
Ah, that’s in St James’s, not in Regent’s.

Still, the man has excellent taste.
Are they going to be walking through the Hyde Park Corner underground pedestrian tunnels that stink or urine?
One can only hope so.

And making their contribution.
#1) Notice American applies for UK citizenship because the tax hit is overwhelming
#2) AIPAC taking over London?
The Zionists have been very loud in the UK recently

AIPAC is never far behind them
Unfortunate. I thought the UK was immune.
I meant to say "no rich Americans"'
Just because you have citizenship does not mean you have to pay the tax
Unlike the US, UK citizens are not taxed on their worldwide income unless they are resident for sufficient number of days
Indeed if you had been here for 5 years and were thinking of moving somewhere else (to avoid taxes) it is exactly what you would do in order to give you the right to come back whenever you want with zero downside

Little more thinking - little less posting
(Edited)
I wasn't referring to UK taxes.
I guess one could have dual citizenship but if not, and one gives up US citizenship, the US government taxes all unrealized gains. That was my point. Golden handcuffs.
And since the UK is akin to the third world, why would anyone want a UK passport?
But appreciate the condescension that appears prevalent among the Brits here. It is really unnecessary and frankly, America is thriving and the UK is not.
If you consider the road to dictatorship "thriving".
You should appreciate the condescension - the yanks failed to create their own language when claiming their independence....every other colony has their own language that is different from the mothership except the cultureless yanks....
(Edited)
Australia? What's the official language of India?
The American language is pragmatism, or used to be.