Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday night was met with a muted response from billionaires and other business leaders in the city, many of whom had backed Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/11/05/billionaires-react-to-mamdanis-win-you-have-a-big-responsibility/
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00:00Zoran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday night was met with a muted response from billionaires and other business leaders in the city, many of whom had backed former governor Andrew Cuomo for mayor.
00:13Mamdani said his election win was a, quote, mandate for change. He added, quote,
00:18For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands. Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands.
00:32Mamdani also addressed the money poured into the race by his billionaire critics, saying, quote,
00:37Tens of millions of dollars have been spent to redefine reality and to convince our neighbors that this new age is something that should frighten them.
00:45As has so often occurred, the billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30 an hour that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour.
00:56Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has been among Mamdani's fiercest critics online, congratulated the Democratic candidate on his victory at an ex-post and wrote, quote,
01:06Now you have a big responsibility.
01:08The Pershing Square Capital founder, who had poured $1.75 million into the race in an attempt to stop Mamdani, then added, quote,
01:18If I can help New York City, just let me know what I can do.
01:23Hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb, who donated $775,000 to back Mamdani's opponent, didn't directly comment on the election result,
01:33but he appeared to mock Ackman's post, tweeting, quote,
01:36Ladies, find a man who loves you the way Bill Ackman loves himself.
01:42Crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz told Bloomberg that the business community needed to reach out to the progressive leader, saying, quote,
01:48He's tapping into a message that's real, that we've got a tale of two cities in the Dickensian sense,
01:54and can you address the affordability issue in creative ways without driving business out?
01:59Many other prominent billionaires who backed Cuomo, like Mike Bloomberg and Airbnb co-founder Joseph Gebbia,
02:06haven't yet publicly commented on the results of the election.
02:10The New York Times reported that a council of business leaders from Florida will issue a statement on the election results on Wednesday
02:17and promote their state's, quote,
02:19Pro-growth environment and a commitment to opportunity in a bid to court New York business people.
02:25For more on this story, check out the article and the link in the description.
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