You pay the dues and follow the house rules. You might even think of it as “your” club. But who actually owns the room? Follow the money behind Manhattan’s velvet ropes and you find hotel investors, restaurant empires, a Cyprus-based holding company and at least one family that has been in the business since 1931.

Who owns New York’s private clubs at a glance

Club Owner or operator The money story
Soho House Taken private by a group led by MCR Hotels $2.7 billion deal, completed in early 2026
Crane Club Tao Group Hospitality, owned by Mohari Hospitality Tao valued at $550 million in 2023
ZZ’s Club Major Food Group (Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, Jeff Zalaznick) $20,000 to join, $10,000 a year
Zero Bond Founded by Scott Sartiano in 2020 Expanded to Wynn Las Vegas
Casa Cipriani Cipriani S.A. with Midtown Equities and Centaur Properties $100 million refinancing in 2022
Kith Ivy Kith founder Ronnie Fieg, with Midtown Equities $36,000 to join, $7,000 a year
Aman Club Aman, chaired by Vlad Doronin $200,000 to join, $15,000 a year

In August 2025, Soho House shareholders were offered $9 a share in cash, an 83% premium to the stock price before outside interest emerged, in a deal that valued the company at $2.7 billion. The buyers were led by MCR Hotels, a New York hotel owner and operator, according to Fortune. Then, weeks before closing, the financing wobbled.

MCR said it could not deliver the full amount it had pledged. Soho House scrambled and lined up roughly $200 million in new commitments, including $50 million from MCR chairman Tyler Morse through a new entity, Morse Ventures, according to Skift. The deal completed in January 2026, and Soho House left the New York Stock Exchange after four years, according to The Caterer. Members who were refreshing their app to book a table probably never noticed. That is the point of a good club: the drama stays upstairs.

Who owns Soho House now?

Soho House is now privately owned by an investor group led by MCR Hotels, which completed its $2.7 billion take-private deal in January 2026. Tyler Morse’s Morse Ventures added equity, Apollo and Goldman Sachs provided debt, and longtime backer Richard Caring rolled over his shares instead of cashing out, according to The Caterer.

The deal’s history says something about what investors were buying. Fortune noted that Soho House had never turned an annual profit since its 1995 founding. Investors paid $2.7 billion anyway. They were buying something steadier than profit: a list of members who pay every year. Our profile of Soho House New York covers what that means for the clubs themselves.

The restaurant empires

Some of Manhattan’s hottest clubs are owned by companies that started as restaurant groups. ZZ’s Club at Hudson Yards belongs to Major Food Group, founded by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick, the team behind Carbone, according to Time Out New York. Its website lists a $20,000 initiation fee and $10,000 in annual dues, according to the New York Post.

Crane Club belongs to Tao Group Hospitality, the company behind Tao, Lavo, Hakkasan and Beauty & Essex. In 2023, Madison Square Garden Entertainment sold its majority stake to Mohari Hospitality, a Cyprus-based investment company founded by hotel investor Mark Scheinberg, in a deal that valued Tao at $550 million, according to Commercial Observer. So a Manhattan night out at Crane Club ultimately rolls up to a company whose portfolio also includes luxury hotels such as The Peninsula Papagayo in Costa Rica.

The founders who still run their rooms

Other clubs are still tied closely to the people who started them. Zero Bond in NoHo was founded in October 2020 by Scott Sartiano, who co-founded the nightclub 1OAK and Butter restaurant, according to his biography. Kith Ivy is Ronnie Fieg’s project. Maxime’s is Robin Birley’s. Casa Cipriani is run by the Cipriani family, whose hospitality business traces back to Harry’s Bar in Venice, which opened in 1931.

Founder-run clubs tend to feel more personal, for better and worse. The upside is consistency: the person whose name is on the door cares how the room feels. The downside is concentration: if the founder loses interest, sells or moves on, the club’s personality can go with them.

Does it matter who owns your club?

It matters who owns your club because the owner decides how big it grows, how fees change and how much the original feeling is protected. Investor-owned clubs face pressure to expand and raise revenue. Founder-run clubs can stay smaller but depend on one person’s taste. Neither model is wrong, but members should know which one they joined.

A simple test: look at what has changed since you joined. More locations, higher fees and more members suggest an owner focused on growth. The same faces and the same staff suggest an owner focused on the room. Our story on the real art of the club sponsor shows how members protect a club’s character from the inside, one vouch at a time.

The members are the asset

For all the billion-dollar deals, every owner of every club is buying the same thing: the members. The building can be refinanced, the chef can be replaced and the logo can be redrawn. A room full of people who want to be there cannot be bought; it can only be kept.

That is also why some of the best access in New York does not come with dues at all. Social Life Magazine, which publishes this site, hosts a cabana at Polo Hamptons and private estate events each summer, where the value comes from who is invited rather than a membership card. For the full money story, read why the rich pay for private clubs and our guide to the velvet rope wars.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns Crane Club in New York?
Crane Club is run by Tao Group Hospitality. In 2023, Madison Square Garden Entertainment sold its majority stake in Tao to Mohari Hospitality, a Cyprus-based company founded by hotel investor Mark Scheinberg, in a deal valuing Tao at $550 million, according to Commercial Observer.

Who owns ZZ’s Club?
ZZ’s Club is owned by Major Food Group, founded by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick, the team behind Carbone. The Hudson Yards club opened after the Miami original, which had more than 7,000 people on its waiting list, according to Time Out New York, citing The New York Times.

Did the Soho House sale close?
Yes. Soho House’s $2.7 billion take-private deal, led by MCR Hotels, completed in January 2026 after the company filled a late funding gap with about $200 million in new commitments, including $50 million from Tyler Morse’s Morse Ventures, according to Skift, a New York-based travel publication.

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