Al Kahn, Executive Who Introduced America to Pokémon, Lists NYC Penthouse for $19M

Published: September 15, 2016 | By: American Luxury Staff

Beginning in 1991, Al Kahn served as the chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, the New York-based licensing and production company that found success as an importer of Japanese anime cartoons.

With properties such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon, 4Kids was, for a time during the executive’s tenure, the largest trading entity in all of North America, and it was reportedly Kahn who thought up the name “Pokémon” after concluding that the original “pocket monsters” moniker sounded too clumsy in English.

The 69-year-old, who professes never to have played the Pokémon Go mobile game, appears to have moved on from his time as a cartoon arbiter, and this week he’s also looking to move on from a four-story midtown penthouse in Manhattan. Kahn and his wife Jillian have listed the 4,300-square-foot apartment for $18.95 million—a steal, considering amenities like a built-in sound system, a living room media projector with dropdown screen, a private pool, three bedrooms, three full and three partial baths.

Glass chandeliers and interlocking patterns in the stair carpeting and behind the living room wet bar ooze Art Deco sophistication, while ceiling windows in the brass-bedecked upper-floor bathroom and the kitchen let in plenty of light. With a marble-topped table, a farmhouse sink and stainless steel appliances that include an ample wine refrigerator, the kitchen is a perfect place for informal congregations, while a ten-person dining set fits neatly into a formal dining area with excellent views of the midtown skyline.

And if that’s not enough, the master suite takes up the entire third floor, with his and her bathrooms and dressing rooms as well as a large sitting area.

4181 September 15, 2016 Real Estate September 15, 2016