By David Byers.
Igor Babuschkin, the co-creator of Elon Musk’s xAI, has purchased the largest penthouse in Park Modern, a £530 million development overlooking Hyde Park
The co-founder of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has purchased a £57 million penthouse overlooking Hyde Park, in the most significant prime London property transaction since 2024, according to reporting in The Times.
Igor Babuschkin paid £10.7 million in stamp duty to acquire the 6,800 sq ft apartment at the Park Modern development in Bayswater, which features a 2,500 sq ft wraparound terrace — the largest in London — with views across Hyde Park and towards Kensington Palace. The property was purchased at shell and core, with Babuschkin understood to have commissioned the developer to design the interior.
Camilla Dell, Managing Director of Black Brick, gave a candid assessment of the deal to The Times. While noting that she has never been an unconditional advocate of the development’s location on a busy road — and would personally favour Mayfair or Marylebone at this price point — she acknowledged the property’s clear appeal to a certain buyer profile. “It’s a secure lock-up-and-leave, with a fantastic view over the park,” she said. “And for an ultra-high-net-worth individual, owning a penthouse is the ultimate trophy asset — sometimes ultra-high-net-worth individuals can be just really obsessive about only wanting to own a penthouse. It’s a penthouse or nothing.”
Dell also offered a broader read on current market sentiment, noting an improving mood since the Autumn Budget, while cautioning that political uncertainty could yet weigh on confidence. “I do feel like there’s a little bit of a mood change,” she said, adding that continued political turbulence could prove damaging — particularly if it brought to power figures less favourable to wealth and taxation than the current administration.
The sale comes against a difficult recent backdrop for London’s luxury property market, where prices for prime homes worth £4.5 million or more fell 4.8% in 2025, according to Savills, amid the abolition of non-dom status and elevated stamp duty rates.
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