It seems former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine has been hit by the housing crash.
The ex-Governor of New Jersey recently sold his Hoboken penthouse apartment for $2.8 million, 14 percent less than what he paid for it in 2008, Bloomberg reports (h/t Business Insider). The 2,400 square foot apartment, which features a jacuzzi in the master bedroom and “smack-you-in-the-face views of the city,” was regarded as the “No. 1 luxury property in Hoboken” when Corzine bought it, real estate broker Kevin Dowd told Bloomberg.
The former Senator and Goldman Sachs CEO is one of many Americans dealing with declining property values. Home prices have dropped by one-third since 2006 and may only just now be beginning to tick up again.
The housing crash isn't the only crisis Corzine is dealing with, though. Corzine is coming off the bankruptcy of MF Global last fall when the brokerage firm made a failed $6.3 billion bet on European debt, losing more than $1 billion worth of customer funds. Even with that money now largely accounted for, the collapse is a major blemish on Corzine’s resume. The Obama campaign returned $70,000 worth of donations to Corzine in December as result, according to Bloomberg.
Still, he's likely not sweating over the money lost on his Hoboken penthouse. Before MF Global’s collapse Corzine reportedly netted more than $8 millon in compensation last year. Such a hefty pay package could explain why Corzine hasn't shyed away from the real estate market as of late. Just weeks before MF Global’s bankruptcy, Corzine was reportedly shopping for a chateau in the south of France. A few months later, Corzine was again checking out office space at 40 Wall Street, an address just around the corner from the New York Stock Exchange, the Wall Street Journal reports.
But Corzine isn’t the only well-known name to decide to do some spring real estate cleaning, nor the only one to take a hit. Meg Ryan recently listed her home at 42 percent price cut while Bily Joel, Lil’ Wayne and Harrison Ford, among others, have all put their homes up for sale.
Check out Jon Corzine's role in the collapse of MF Global below:
