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Panicked Wall Street financiers are racing to rally behind an “anyone-but-Mamdani” candidate for New York City mayor after 33-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani unexpectedly clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday.
Within hours of the primary result, hedge fund investors, private equity titans, corporate lawyers and investment bankers called and texted each other to find the best way to back a centrist challenger ahead of the November vote, according to people involved in the discussions.
The financiers are gaming whether Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who lost to Mamdani but who could still run as an independent, or Eric Adams, the current mayor, would be the best candidate to back. Adams, who had a federal corruption indictment dismissed by the administration of President Donald Trump earlier this year, is running as an independent.
Some on Wall Street are also going to try to convince the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, to drop out of the race given what they think are his low chances of beating a Democrat or independent.
“The response from the business community is going to depend on Mamdani clarifying his positions on Israel and taxes and his support for the business community,” said Kathryn Wylde, who leads Partnership for New York City, a top advocacy group for the city’s corporate elite.
She added that a formal response from New York titans to the shock primary result would come after “the dust settles”.
Whoever clinches the Democratic primary is typically the favourite to win the general election in November.
Convinced that a Mamdani administration would boost New York’s already high tax rates and force the wealthy to relocate away from the city, members of the business community donated more than $30mn to support Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
In the wake of the former governor’s loss, there was a sense among New York’s financiers that Mamdani’s momentum must be swiftly quashed. Since his victory was announced, they had been busy sketching out plans to spend tens of millions dollars more to fund a new media blitz and a citywide ground operation to counter the young candidate’s campaign for November’s vote, said people familiar with the effort.
Mamdani has called for raising New York’s corporate tax rate to 11.5 per cent from 7.25 per cent and adding a 2 per cent income tax surcharge for individuals earning more than $1mn.
His campaign estimates this would raise about $10bn to pay for pledges including free bus service and universal childcare — although any such increases would require approval by the state legislature.
“Between [Cuomo and Adams], either would be better than Mamdani,” said the leader of a New York bank, though many others hoped that only one would run so they would not cannibalise each other’s votes.
Others said that unless a moderate candidate became mayor many wealthy New Yorkers would flee, eroding the taxpayer base.
“If the tax base erodes, and Jamie Dimon starts moving folks to Texas, and Citadel keeps shifting to Florida — that’s the direction we’re heading,” said another banker, referring to the JPMorgan chief executive.
A small group of billionaire hedge fund managers, including Bill Ackman and Dan Loeb, have been particularly vocal about their opposition to Mamdani.
In posts on X on Tuesday and Wednesday they theorised about how he could be defeated in the November election. Loeb wrote that “several New York City mayors have run (and won) outside traditional two-party lines”.
But one Wall Street investment banking CEO dismissed fears that businesses would flee if Mamdani won in November.
“The city seems to be thriving for people with money. My sense is that this election indicates a backlash against the old, established and rich, and maybe against Trump, since he and his crowd are all of those,” said the CEO.
The triumph of Mamdani’s campaign against the preferences of the city’s elite was a favourite theme at his election night party in Queens, and his jubilant supporters are certain they can beat better funded opponents.
“The billionaires are watching this moment,” New York congresswoman Nydia Velázquez said in a speech at Mamdani’s event. “They’re going to spend everything they’ve got to stop Zohran. Why? Because they know this campaign threatens business as usual, and they are scared.”
