&quotHeidi Gutman/CNBC/NBCU via Getty; Larry Busacca/Getty; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

Ken Griffin is on a real-estate spending spree that's seen him break a major record in the first weeks of 2019.

Most recently, he dished out $238 million for a sprawling New York City apartment. The 23,000-square-foot penthouse unit at 220 Central Park South is now the most expensive home ever sold in the US; it shattered the previous record, a $137 million Hamptons home purchased by Barry Rosenstein in 2014, by more than $100 million.

But that's just the tip of the real estate iceberg.

Just days before news of his NYC purchase was announced, news broke of Griffin's $122 million mansion purchase in London. According to Bloomberg, the historic mansion is about a half mile from Buckingham Palace. And, on January 11, the Chicago Tribune reported that he dropped $58.75 million on 4 top-level floors in a Near North condominium in Chicago.

Here's a quick look at some of Griffin's notable properties, in the US and beyond.

Ken Griffin is a hedge-fund manager whose net worth is an estimated $8.84 billion. That makes him the richest man in Illinois and one of the richest men in the world.

Griffin is the CEO of Citadel, a hedge fund founded in 1990 that manages $30 billion in assets. He's also well-known for his philanthropy — in August, for example, he donated $20 million to Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida — but currently, it's his real-estate investments that are making the news.

In January, Griffin bought the penthouse apartment of 220 Central Park South. It's the most expensive real estate transaction in the US.

The luxury apartment takes up floors 50 through 53 and sits on the southern edge of Central Park.

The building is still under construction ...

... and is separated from the southern entrance to Central Park by just one street.

Just days prior to his NYC purchase, news also broke of Griffin purchasing a $122 million London mansion at 3 Carlton Gardens. The Wall Street Journal reports that the purchase is one of the most expensive London has ever seen.

The mansion is a half mile away from Buckingham Palace.

Griffin's 200-year-old London pad overlooks St. James Park and includes a gym, a pool, and an underground extension.

Griffin also holds the record for the Chicago area's priciest real-estate sale: According to the Chicago Tribune, in November 2018, he bought four floors of luxury condo building No. 9 Walton for $58.75 million.

His purchase encompasses floors 35 through 38 of No. 9 Walton.

The building is in the Near North area of Chicago, near the banks of Lake Michigan and in the midst of a thriving restaurant scene on Oak and Rush streets.

The building has been described as Chicago's "number one address" and is about a block away from the Waldorf Astoria.

Griffin also holds the real-estate record in Miami: In 2015, he dropped $60 million on two properties — a five-bedroom penthouse and the three-bedroom condo directly below it — in an 18-story condo called Faena House in Miami Beach.

Faena House sits on Miami Beach's widest stretch of white sand. The penthouse has a 70-foot infinity pool on one of its terraces.

Faena House is directly next to Faena Hotel ...

... and sits on a street of high-rise buildings just off of the beach.

Beyond his Miami penthouse, Griffin has also accumulated nearly $250 million of real estate in the Billionaires Row area of Palm Beach, Florida, with intentions of building a mansion.

Notably, Griffin's Palm Beach property is just south of Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago Club.

The property reportedly spans more than 12 acres; Griffin has, according to the Real Deal, cleared it to make room for a house that will be longer than a football field.

Hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin\'s $238 million NYC apartment shattered the US real estate record - here\'s a look at his record-setting properties and penthouses