Zohran Mamdani is officially New York City’s mayor-elect, despite fierce opposition from a coalition of billionaires determined to block his path to office.
Mamdani’s progressive agenda includes rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, free childcare and a flat 2% tax on millionaires, which has rattled parts of Wall Street.
Part of what’s unsettled the ultra-wealthy is the 34-year-old’s public stance that billionaires shouldn’t exist.
As such, several prominent billionaires have funded outside groups aimed at defeating Mamdani throughout the general election, despite failing to stop the Democratic socialist state assemblyman during June’s primary.
Nearly all polling showed Mamdani ahead of his main challenger, former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, while Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa also attracted some support.
The city’s corporate leaders remained firmly behind Cuomo and vocally opposed Mamdani’s progressive policies.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk both endorsed Cuomo the day before the election on social media, but aren’t known to have donated to the race.
On Monday (3 November), the Tesla CEO posted on X urging voters to “VOTE CUOMO!”
But other billionaires have piled in money to change the outcome of the race. Here are the billionaires who spent over $100,000 in the mayoral race since the June primary:
- Mike Bloomberg
- Joe Gebbia
- Bill Ackman
- Ronald Lauder
- William Lauder
- Steve Wynn
- Daniel Loeb
- Barry Diller
- Marcella Guarino Hymowitz
- Richard Kurtz
- Alice Walton
Other business leaders have spoken out about Mamdani’s victory.
In an interview with CNN, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said that he won’t make ‘quick decisions’ about the bank’s future in New York following Mamdani’s win.
“He’s a young man. Will he get good at it?” Dimon said. “I see a lot of people in big jobs, including political jobs. They grow into it.”
In contrast, Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, spent $1.75 million over the past year to prevent Mamdani’s election win.
Then on Tuesday night, Ackman wrote on X: “Congrats on the win. Now you have a big responsibility. If I can help NYC, just let me know what I can do.”
James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, also congratulated Mamdani, stating: “We congratulate Mayor-elect Mamdani on his victory.
“REBNY is prepared to work with the next mayor to address the issue of housing affordability and other challenges facing our city.”
Among his proposals, Mamdani plans to tackle the city’s housing crisis by tripling production of publicly subsidised, rent-stabilised homes, targeting 200,000 new units over the next decade.