Sometimes even big winners in the tech market have to take a real estate loss.
Tech investor Daniel Benton has found a buyer for his Park Avenue penthouse. Benton bought the 5,200-square-foot co-op apartment in 2012 for $39 million with then-wife Anna Nikolayevsky, founder of Axel Capital Management. In 2022 he listed it for below what the couple paid, $35 million, so he likely already was prepared to take a loss. But the property traded for $28 million, according to a deed that appeared in the city record Thursday, resulting in a 30% hit from his purchase price.
The four-bedroom, prewar duplex features five bathrooms, a wraparound terrace, a fireplace and Central Park views.
Benton and Nikolayevsky divorced, and she sold her half to him for $17.5 million in 2019.
Benton in 2017 married actress Stephanie March, best known for portraying an assistant district attorney on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She was previously married to celebrity chef Bobby Flay.
Together, Benton and March moved downtown to the West Village. In 2018 they bought two units to create a five-bedroom spread on West 10th Street. The unit features five full and two half baths, as well as a whopping 3,451 square feet of terrace space, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.
The buyer of the Park Avenue penthouse appears to be Thomas White, retired partner and general counsel at the law firm WilmerHale. White did not return a request for comment by press time.
Benton likely made much of his money in the hedge fund game. In 2001 he founded Andor Capital Management, a $2 billion hedge fund. Though he gained a reputation for picking tech stocks, he shut down the firm during the 2008 financial crisis and returned money to investors. After starting it up again a few years later, news reports say it sunsetted once more in 2016. He now lists his role as CEO of Benton Capital Management.
Benton has also made a name for himself as a donor. His alma mater, Colgate University, says he is the largest benefactor in the college’s history, including a $25 million donation he made in 2021. A hall and a center on campus have been named in his honor.
And Benton has not shied away from political donations. In 2024 he donated $353,890 to Democratic political candidates, according to data from the website OpenSecrets.
Neither Benton nor John Burger, the Brown Harris Stevens agent for the sale, responded to requests for comment.
