Bill Ackman slams Mamdani policies as very bad for New York, wont rule out mayoral run himself

Billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman is taking another jab at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s far-left policies – as he declines to rule out his own potential mayoral run one day.“I’m not a fan,” Ackman said of the democratic socialist in an episode of podcast “Money Rehab” this week.“He’s very smart, very charismatic, very good at politics, but I think the decisions he’s making are very bad for New York.”Asked whether he would ever consider running for mayor himself, Ackman said: “I would say possibly, but I think I could achieve a lot more by helping a very talented person do that job.”Ackman was playing a speed-round game of “bullish and bearish,” giving his opinions on Bitcoin, gold, sports betting, the Trump administration and Mamdani, when he took the opportunity to criticize the mayor’s decision to make enemies of the city’s wealthiest.Mamdani infuriated New York’s business community when he released an April 15 video promoting his and Gov.

Kathy Hochul’s new pied-à-terre tax on second luxury homes – filming himself directly outside the Citadel founder’s 24,000-square-foot property at 220 Central Park South.“I mean, all the various things that Mamdani wants to pay for require revenues from the likes of people like Ken Griffin.So if you scare away Ken Griffin or discourage the Ken Griffins of the world from being in New York City, it’s a disaster for New York,” Ackman told podcast host Nicole Lapin.“I don’t think the country or New York City has a revenue problem,” he added.

“I think we have an efficiency and waste problem.”Ackman, who recently spent $260 million to create a massive brain research institute in Manhattan, said Griffin is “a massive driver of New York City economic value” who is now “increasing [his] presence in Miami and diminishing [his] presence in New York.”Following the video’s release, Griffin – whose firm employs thousands of workers in New York – signaled he ...