Billionaire dumps NYC property empire as Mamdani's rent freeze sparks investor exodus

View comments Google billionaire Sergey Brin is cutting his losses and staging a dramatic exit from the dysfunctional New York City real estate market.

Using his personal family office vehicle, Amphitheatre LLC, Brin has capitulated and sold his entire stake back to the property fund's manager, A&E Real Estate.

The property sell-off comes as a perfect storm of radical rent control laws and skyrocketing structural costs continue to squeeze landlords to a bloody pulp across the Big Apple.

Astonishingly, the world's third-richest man accepted a near-total wipeout, walking away with a reported six cents on the dollar for his original equity investment. The gross size of Brin's exposure was said to be valued at $79 million . . .

I guess when you are that rich, it's all just play money.

Although I am really surprised there hasn't been a resurgence of the Mob in NYC. "For a small donation, we'll solve your problem" Tony Ghiridelli

Probably all moved out to long island.

I am sadden for those who know this is coming to their area yet still stay invested there.

On more than one occasion, I have told local government officials that I own NNNs out of state and OGM in multiple state. I let them know that the local tourism board reports that $1 from out of the area nets $7 locally. The inverse is also true. I then ask them what would happen if I pulled seven figures of investment out locally? Would they have a spare 63 million in the budget. Truth is we are all small peanuts, but sometimes we forget to flex our muscles in a manner that officials can understand. I typically show them my cell phone with over other investors phone numbers.

I don't pretend to be saddened,disappointed or sorry

Map, there are plenty of other ways to make money.

Look at Brin, he knows it and did it as well.

It should be a learning point for all of us.

I stopped holding in a bigger town close to me because they decided to start having rentals be registered. I went to the city building and inquired only to find out it was all for naught. I didn't care about the $5 (yes, five dollar) registration fee as much as what it did.

To this day they still have the registrations, which were supposed to help stop the slumlord properties. Well, the slumlords have more money and cause more trouble when they get pinched.

What happened to Americans who stood up instead of rolling over?

I'm guessing that the long term plan is to seize those rentals. Landlords leave and the there is a punishing tax on empty buildings and eventually the city government condemns them and seizes them.

[[[[[...... What happened to Americans who stood up instead of rolling over?....]]]]]

They don't live in NYC.

A quick google, 38% of the population of NYC is foreign born, 3.6% are US Nationals (born in Puerto Rico, Samoa, etc), another 6% are illegal aliens. They do not have a lot of motivation to turn down the promise of free stuff. That is a pretty big block of voters.

And me, I believe in the value of democracy. They vote and that is what the majority in NYC wants. I suspect that they are going to get what they voted for and at that point I have no sympathy, except that they then spread out like a virus and infect the rest of the country with their nonsense.

Really, it is too bad that there is no way to make them stay in the area that they destroy. They did it, let them stay and enjoy it instead of trying to destroy the rest of t