New York City’s upcoming mayoral election has become a high stakes battle between grassroots populism and entrenched wealth, with 34-year-old Democratic Socialist Assemblyman Zoran Mamdani at the center of a storm. Riding high in the polls, Mamdani has maintained a lead over former Governor Andrew Cuomo and talk show host Curtis Sliwa, despite facing resistance from some of the city’s most influential elites.
At an October 13 rally, Mamdani declared, “Billionaires like Bill Ackman and Ronald Lauder have poured millions of dollars into this race because they say that we pose an existential threat. I am here to admit something, they are right.”
Ackman, the hedge fund magnate, has invested $1.75 million in political groups opposing Mamdani, while cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder has contributed another $750,000. But the opposition extends far beyond these two names.
According to Forbes analysis, 26 billionaires and members of billionaire families from across the United States have donated at least $100,000 each to support Cuomo, who now runs as an independent, or other candidates vying to block Mamdani’s path to City Hall. Collectively, these contributions surpass $22 million, saturating New York City’s airwaves and mailboxes with anti-Mamdani messages.
More than half of these donations, approximately $13.6 million, were made prior to Mamdani securing the Democratic primary on June 24. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg alone contributed $8.3 million to a group called Fix the City, Inc. to support Cuomo’s bid. Since then, Bloomberg and Mamdani have reportedly held what was described as a “cordial discussion,” signaling a cautious, pragmatic engagement between billionaire donors and the young candidate.
Other prominent liberal donors, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and media entrepreneur Barry Diller, each donated $250,000 to Fix the City prior to the primary. Conservative donors and Trump allies have also joined the fray: casino magnate Steve Wynn contributed $500,000 in October, and oil baron John Hess has invested a total of $1 million against Mamdani since May.
Mamdani, a three-term state legislator, has championed a progressive, left wing agenda. Earlier this year, he told NBC News, “I don’t think we should have billionaires because frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality.” Yet in recent months, Mamdani has sought dialogue with business leaders, aiming to ease fears while articulating a policy vision that does not seek to eliminate billionaires. Instead, his platform calls for freezing rents in rent controlled apartments, making city buses free, and establishing universal child care, funded by raising the top marginal income tax rate by two points and increasing corporate taxes from 7.25% to New Jersey’s 11.5%.
Notably, 16 of the 26 billionaire donors identified by Forbes live in New York City, including Bloomberg, Diller, and the influential Tisch family. The Tisch family, major contributors to New York University and part owners of the New York Giants, have invested at least $1.2 million to oppose Mamdani, a significant detail given that Jessica Tisch, a family member, is New York City’s police commissioner, whom Mamdani has pledged to retain if elected.
The symbolic weight of governing America’s largest city has prompted donors from outside New York to participate as well. Ten of the contributing billionaires reside elsewhere, including Texan Walmart heir Alice Walton, hedge funder Daniel Och, and Bostonian John Fish, whose firm, Suffolk Construction, is behind projects such as the Waldorf Astoria renovation and a new skyscraper on 5th Avenue.
As the mayoral race intensifies, Mamdani’s campaign illustrates the friction between political outsider movements and established financial power. Billionaires are investing not just money, but influence and networks, in a battle that underscores the high stakes of controlling New York City, both politically and economically.
