The online travel agency Kayak was co-founded in 2004 by its current CEO, Steve Hafner, who had previously co-founded Orbitz. Nowadays the go-to metasearch engine for just about anyone and everyone looking to travel anywhere, Kayak went public in 2012 and was acquired in 2013, by Booking Holdings, for $2.1 billion. The mega-success of both Orbitz and Kayak has filled the 47-year-old father of five’s coffers so full that between August of 2016 and February of 2019 he was able to shell out nearly $74 million on four luxury homes in three states.
The first of the four residences, a four-bedroom and four-and-a-half-bath duplex condo on a high floor of New York’s stunning (and scandal-kissed) Walker Tower, has now been sold for $23.5 million, a huge amount but, as first noted by the New York Post, a half million bucks less than was paid for the nearly 4,900-square foot condo in August of 2016.
Hafner has sought to sell the condo since at least late 2017, when it popped up with a too high price of $28 million. Last year, the price dropped to just under $25 million and the 18-floor spread sat for more than a year before an as-yet unidentified buyer swooped in and arranged for another $1.5 million discount. The condo was listed with Noble Black of Douglas Elliman.
With glossy dark-stained chevron patterned hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling casement windows that showcase glittery city views, the house-sized condo is arranged around a 600-plus-square-foot combination living and dining room. The spacious room is flanked by a sleek eat-in kitchen and a small room easily utilized as a dining room or library. (With enough cleverness and money, this room could also be incorporated into the main-floor primary bedroom as a private sitting room or dressing room.)