Billionaires' Row

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

By: Katherine Clarke

Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2023 Katherine Clarke (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Some years hence, anthropologists or aliens will look to a half-dozen spindly towers that rise improbably high above the southern edge of New York’s Central Park when trying to understand this particular age of hyper-wealth. In the meantime, the rest of us can consult Billionaires’ Row, Katherine Clarke’s thrilling chronicle of those towers and the people who built them.”—Financial Times

“Based upon extensive accounts from New York’s power brokers, this fast-paced narrative cracks open the cutthroat world of $100 million apartments for the global one-percenters.”—Robb Report

“A rollicking account . . . The Wild West has nothing on the cowboy builders, bankers, and buyers who populate Clarke’s tale. . . . Engrossing.”—Air Mail

Brilliant

Great story. Great reader- I wish she read every audiobook that I listen to. Good detail on the fabled part of the NYC skyline.

Important snapshot for history

These buildings will dominate the city skyline for generations and Clarke has done an exceptional service to society by documenting the incredible history of their rise and the wild individuals behind them. Highly recommend. Read beautifully by DiMercurio.

The rise and fall of great american skyscrapers

Someone has probably titled their review the same way already but I did come up with it myself because as a man of culture I read books and was in fact able to think of another book to reference.
Jokes aside the title is pretty accurate to the contents of the book, it’s also a fascinating inisght into the behind the scenes of the 0.1%. While it would be nice in many ways to have a bunch of cash, I personally don’t envy their lives.

Great book to learn about new skyscrapers in Midtown.

As a new real estate agent in the City and working with many foreign buyers from Korea, I had chances to have tours some of those mega towers. I tried to find some stories to tell my clients and this book gave me lots of in-depth stories from development and so on. Great read if you have an interest in the Real Estate Development or selling in the City.

One of the best accounts on high stakes development

This is the first book that I have read which reveals the highs and lows of real estate development. It also reveals the motivations of individuals in the industry and their tactics in potential success. It’s all about tenacity, timing and the love of building.

Best report to understand Billionaires

This is base in facts, so when you research it is true on google and youtube

New York, New York!

A riveting story about the development of Billionaire’s Row, the minds of Developers, and the politics and finances involved with building towers in the sky. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and learnt a lot about development and the mindsets of wealthy individuals.