Billionaires Rebuke Zohran Mamdani's Win-Including Musk, Ackman
Billionaires criticized New Yorkers who voted for Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani in Tuesday’s New York City Democratic mayoral primary race—after he beat out former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a stunning win despite significant support for Cuomo from wealthy donors.
New York mayoral candidate, State Rep. Zohran Mamdani (D-NY), speaks to supporters during an ... More election night gathering at The Greats of Craft LIC on June 24, 2025 in the Long Island City neighborhood of the Queens borough in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesPershing Square’s , who donated $500,000 to a super PAC supporting Cuomo and backed President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, reposted a series of tweets criticizing Mamdani’s win, including turnout stats from The New York Times that found Mamdani won districts with median incomes over $100,000 by 13 points, while Cuomo won those with median incomes under $50,000 by 19 points.
Ackman also lamented Mamdani received votes amounting to less than 10% of the registered voter population in New York, writing “if we allow 9.1% of registered voters [to] determine the future of New York City, then we deserve the city that we are going to get.”
Billionaire Cuomo backer of Third Point hedge fund declared “it’s officially hot commie summer” in response to Mamdani’s win and criticized New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as “a clueless, unqualified buffoon” in response to her tweet calling Mamdani’s campaign “formidable.”
Billionaire grocery store chain owner , who also backed Trump and threatened to close his Gristedes stores if Mamdani becomes mayor, retweeted Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., who sarcastically welcomed New Yorkers to “conservative Florida” in response to Mamdani’s run, suggesting New Yorkers would flee for his state.
Tesla CEO also tweeted a crying laughing emoji in response to an X user who reposted a tweet from Zohran Mamdani that said “queer liberation means defund the police,” with the caption “you can just say things,” suggesting Mamdani’s statement didn’t add up.
$25 million. That’s how much the Cuomo-aligned super PAC, Fix the City, raised, including $8.3 million from billionaire and former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, according to The New York Times. It’s the largest super PAC ever created in New York City mayoral campaign history.
Cuomo told The New York Times shortly after his concession speech he’s considering running in the general election as an independent. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, elected as a Democrat, is also running as an independent.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman, received the largest share of votes in the city’s ranked-choice voting process, beating out Cuomo, who received 36.4% of votes, and third-place candidate New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. Mamdani’s win comes at an inflection point for the Democratic Party, reeling from the 2024 presidential election and bruising House and Senate races, and struggling to counter the Trump administration. The upset is widely viewed as a rebuke of the Democratic establishment, which largely backed Cuomo in the race despite him resigning in disgrace four years ago amid a sexual misconduct scandal.
Mamdani Claims Victory In New York’s Democratic Mayoral Primary After Cuomo Concedes (Forbes)
