Billionaires' Row: Tycoons, High Rollers, and the Epic Race to Build the World's Most Exclusive Skyscrapers

A fly-on-the-wall account of the ferocious ambition, greed, and financial one-upmanship behind the most expensive real estate in the world: the new Manhattan megatowers known as Billionaires’ Row—from a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal “Deeply informative, delightfully entertaining, and addictively readable.”—Diana B. Henriques, bestselling author of The Wizard of Lies To look south and skyward from Central Park these days is to gaze upon a physical manifestation of tens of billions of dollars in global wealth: a series of soaring spires stretching from Park Avenue to Broadway. Known as Billionaires’ Row, this set of slender high-rise residences has transformed the skyline of New York City, thanks to developer-friendly policies and a seemingly endless gush of cash from tech, finance, and foreign oligarchs. And chances are most of us will never be invited to step inside. In Billionaires’ Row, Katherine Clarke reveals the captivating story of how, in just a few years, the ruthless real-estate impresarios behind these “supertalls” lining 57th Street turned what was once a run-down strip of Midtown into the most exclusive street on Earth, as legendary Trump-era veterans went toe-to-toe with hungry upstart developers in an ego-fueled “race to the sky.” Based on far-reaching access to real estate’s power players, Clarke’s account brings readers inside one of the world’s most cutthroat industries, showing how a combination of ferocious ambition and relentless salesmanship has created a new market of $100 million apartments for the world’s one-percenters—units to live in or, sometimes, just places to stash their cash. Filled with eye-popping stories that bring the new era of extreme wealth inequality into vivid relief, Billionaires’ Row is a juicy, gimlet-eyed account of the genius, greed, and financial one-upmanship behind the most expensive real estate in the world—a stranger-than-fiction saga of broken partnerships, broken marriages, lawsuits, and, for a few, fleeting triumph. A “thrilling” ( Financial Times ) fly-on-the-wall account of the ferocious ambition, greed, and one-upmanship behind the most expensive real estate in the world: the new Manhattan megatowers known as Billionaires’ Row—from a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal “Deeply informative, delightfully entertaining, and addictively readable.”—Diana B. Henriques, bestselling author of The Wizard of Lies A CEO Magazine Best Book of the Year • Longlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award To look south and skyward from Central Park these days is to gaze upon a physical manifestation of tens of billions of dollars in global wealth: a series of soaring spires stretching from Park Avenue to Broadway. Known as Billionaires’ Row, this set of slender high-rise residences has transformed the skyline of New York City, thanks to developer-friendly policies and a seemingly endless gush of cash from tech, finance, and foreign oligarchs. And chances are most of us will never be invited to step inside. In Billionaires’ Row, Katherine Clarke reveals the captivating story of how, in just a few years, the ruthless real-estate impresarios behind these “supertalls” lining 57th Street turned what was once a run-down strip of Midtown into the most exclusive street on Earth, as legendary Trump-era veterans went toe-to-toe with hungry upstart developers in an ego-fueled “race to the sky.” Based on far-reaching access to real estate’s power players, Clarke’s account brings readers inside one of the world’s most cutthroat industries, showing how a combination of ferocious ambition and relentless salesmanship has created a new market of $100 million apartments for the world’s one-percenters—units to live in or, sometimes, just places to stash their cash. Filled with eye-popping stories that bring the new era of extreme wealth inequality into vivid relief, Billionaires’ Row is a juicy, gimlet-eyed account of the genius, greed, and financial one-upmanship behind the most expensive real estate in the world—a stranger-than-fiction saga of broken partnerships, broken marriages, lawsuits, and, for a few, fleeting triumph. "A fly-on-the-wall account of the ferocious ambition, greed, and financial one-upmanship behind the most expensive real estate in the world: the new Manhattan megatowers known as Billionaires' Row-from a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal. To look south from Central Park these days is to gaze upon a physical manifestation of tens of billions of dollars in global wealth: a series of soaring spires dotting the skyline from Park Avenue to Broadway. Known as Billionaires' Row, these slender high-rise condos have transformed the skyline of New York City almost in stealth, thanks to the city's developer-friendly policies and a seemingly endless gush of cash from tech, finance, and moguls from Russia, China, and the Middle East. In just a few years, the cutthroat real estate impresarios behind these "supertalls" turned what was once a rundown strip of Midtown into the most expensive street on Earth. Most of us, however, will never be invited inside these gargantuan towers. The saga of Billionaires' Row epitomizes the "new Gilded Age" of twenty-first-century wealth. Behind the blue-tinted façade of One57, you might see financier Bill Ackman riding in an elevator to his $91.5 million apartment with computer legend Michael Dell, who paid $100.47 million for his. One block over, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin shattered records with his $238 million home at 220 Central Park South, the imposing limestone tower where the musician Sting also purchased a penthouse of his own. Most owners, however, remain shrouded in mystery. For some, these monuments to wealth are a place simply to park money; they have never bothered to visit. In Billionaires' Row, Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Clarke reveals the riveting inside story of how a group of New York's most legendary developers went toe-to-toe with renegade upstarts in an ego-fueled race to build the tallest and most luxurious skyscrapers the world has ever known-and to burnish their legacies in the process. The result is a real-life drama complete with broken partnerships, broken marriages, lawsuits, and, for a few, triumph"-- Provided by publisher A fly-on-the-wall account of the ferocious ambition, greed, and financial one-upmanship behind the most expensive real estate in the the new Manhattan megatowers known as Billionaires Rowfrom a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal Deeply informative, delightfully entertaining, and addictively readable.Diana B. Henriques, bestselling author of The Wizard of Lies Longlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award To look south and skyward from Central Park these days is to gaze upon a physical manifestation of tens of billions of dollars in global a series of soaring spires stretching from Park Avenueto Broadway. Known as Billionaires Row, this set of slender high-rise residences has transformed the skyline of New York City, thanks to developer-friendly policies and a seemingly endless gush of cash from tech, finance, and foreign oligarchs. And chances are most of us will never be invited to step inside. In Billionaires Row, Katherine Clarke reveals the captivating story of how, in just a few years, the ruthless real-estate impresarios behind these supertalls lining 57thStreet turned what was once a run-down strip of Midtown into the most exclusive street on Earth, as legendary Trump-era veterans went toe-to-toe with hungry upstart developers in an ego-fueled race to the sky. Based on far-reaching access to real estates power players, Clarkes account brings readers inside one of the worlds most cutthroat industries, showing how a combination of ferocious ambition and relentless salesmanship has created a new market of $100 million apartments for the worlds one-percentersunits to live in or, sometimes, just places to stash their cash. Filled with eye-popping stories that bring the new era of extreme wealth inequality into vivid relief, Billionaires Row is a juicy, gimlet-eyed account of the genius, greed, and financial one-upmanship behind the most expensive real estate in the worlda stranger-than-fiction saga of broken partnerships, broken marriages, lawsuits, and, for a few, fleeting triumph.