Empire State Building Investors Claim IPO Cost Them $410M

The Empire State Building’s managers were sued over claims they deprived thousands of early investors of as much as $410 million in profit when they took the New York skyscraper public as part of a group of properties.

The managers, Peter Malkin and his son, Anthony, wrongfully turned down higher offers for the standalone 103-story tower in favor of making it the centerpiece of a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that would drive up the value of 17 other Malkin-owned buildings in the group, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit filed Dec. 24 in state court in Manhattan.