These Billionaires Have Already Spent $19 Million in a Bid to Defeat Mamdani

As the housing crisis and wealth inequality emerge as top issues for voters in New York City, mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani has called for higher taxes on the rich to pay for services and famously suggested that billionaires should not exist. Mamdani’s viral campaign handily defeated Andrew Cuomo, New York’s former governor, in a Democratic primary earlier this year. As expected, billionaires and billionaire-owned companies such as Airbnb and DoorDash are now spending big to defeat Mamdani and influence the race.

An analysis of new campaign finance filings by influence trackers at the nonprofit public interest research organization LittleSis found that multiple billionaires and their companies have funneled more than $19 million into political action committees (PACs) that support Cuomo or oppose Mamdani and other candidates. With names such as Fix the City, Inc. and Affordable New York, such super PACS provide a vehicle for elite New Yorkers and corporate interests to influence public opinion on the race.

For example, the short-term rental company Airbnb reported a $5 million donation to Affordable New York, a group that has spent heavily on city races and reported spending $1.3 million opposing Mamdani and his progressive ally, city comptroller Brad Lander. According to SEC filings, Airbnb’s three billionaire co-founders — Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia — collectively control 79 percent of the voting power at the company. Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, backed by billionaires Michael Moritz and Douglas Leone, holds a further 10 percent.

Airbnb and other short-term rental companies with a similar business model face backlash from tenant unions and housing advocates for contributing to a historic housing crisis in New York City and across the country. Like in other cities, regulation of short-term rentals is a hot button issue in New York, often pitting tenants against landlords, homeowners, and tourists.

In contrast to the list of more than a dozen billionaires lining up behind Cuomo, Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblyman, has benefited modestly from the support of a single billionaire known for supporting education reform and LGTBQ rights. Elizabeth Simons, a hedge fund heiress and bilingual educator, gave $250,000 to the pro-Mamdani PAC New Yorkers for Lower Costs. The group has spent $921,045 supporting Mamdani and $426,835 opposing Cuomo, according to LittleSis.

Even as pundits attack Mamdani for his comments on non-local topics such as Israel’s bloody occupation of Palestine, his proposals for freezing rent prices and raising taxes on the richest 1 percent to boost public transportation and other services have exhilarated many working and middle class voters. Indeed, in the Democratic Party primary for the mayoral race, Mamdani earned 56 percent of the ranked choice vote, despite being a relative newcomer to city politics, promptly terrifying New York City’s real estate lobby and the billionaire class.

PACs receiving donations from billionaires also spent campaign cash during the Democratic primary to defeat progressive Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller who is allied with Mamdani, and his predecessor, Scott Stringer. Stringer and Lander dropped out after Mamdani upset Cuomo in the primary by a 12-point margin.

Mamdani Leads in Polls, But the Race Is Competitive

At 33 years old, Mamdani is making a splash in the national media and maintains a solid lead in most polls. However, Cuomo has decided to run as an independent and stay in the mayoral race, which remains competitive as outside money flows in.

Also running as an independent is incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, whose reelection campaign has been marred by corruption allegations that led to investigations and criminal charges against at least 10 of the mayor’s aides, appointees, and associates, according to ABC News. Adams was charged with covering up bribery and illegal campaign contributions in September 2024, but the Justice Department dropped the federal charges under President Donald Trump, who has pressured Adams to comply with his brutal crackdown on immigrants.

Adams denies any quid pro quo for the dropped charges and rejected Trump’s call to deploy National Guard troops in New York City this week as the president continues to scaremonger about “crime” as a pretext for military deployments in major cities. Adams also apologized to New Yorkers for the scandals surrounding his tenure in an interview on August 27 but maintained that he has not broken the law.

Local activist Curtis Sliwa is running for mayor on the Republican ticket. Along with Adams, Sliwa is lagging behind Mamdani and Cuomo in the polls.

Billionaires Are Trying Hard to Sway the Race

Perhaps the most visible and influential billionaire in the race is former mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is also known as New York City’s richest man at the top of the Bloomberg finance and media empire. Bloomberg has donated $8.3 million to Fix the City, a super PAC founded to elect Cuomo and defeat Mamdani. The group has spent $14.7 million supporting Cuomo and $7.8 million opposing Mamdani after receiving a total of $12.3 million from billionaire donors, according to LittleSis.

Mamdani earned 56 percent of the ranked choice vote, despite being a relative newcomer to city politics, promptly terrifying New York City’s real estate lobby and the billionaire class.

Then there are the millionaire and billionaire co-founders and CEOs behind the freelance food delivery company Doordash, including Tony Xu, Andy Fang, Stanley Tang, and Evan Moore. Doordash gave $1 million to the pro-Cuomo group Fix the City and $1.8 million to Local Economies Forward NY, a super PAC that lists Doordash as its top donor on a sparse website. Local Economies Forward NY reported spending $368,247 supporting Cuomo while funneling additional funding toward multiple city council candidates.

Bill Ackman, the billionaire power donor and self-styled anti-DEI pundit, has also lined up behind Cuomo with a $500,000 donation to Fix the City. Ackman, a hedge fund manager and longtime Democratic donor who backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 elections, also gave $250,000 to New Yorkers for a Better Future 2025, a PAC that spent money on city council campaigns. It remains unclear whether this committee funded by Ackman is related to New Yorkers for a Better Future Mayor 2025, which WABC reports is preparing to spend $20 million against Mamdani in the general election, according to LittleSis.

Other notable donors donating to support Cuomo or defeat Mamdani include:

• William P. Lauder, the Estée Lauder heir with a net worth of $1.6 billion who has given $500,000 to the pro-Cuomo Fix the City super PAC. Lauder was the CEO from 2004-2009 of Estée Lauder, the cosmetics company founded by his grandfather. He is still chairman of the board. The company has been linked to child labor, securities fraud, and racist slurs from corporate executives.

• Jo Carole Lauder, the aunt of William Lauder, who also gave $250,000 to Fix the City. Her husband, Ron Lauder, who is worth $4.9 billion, is a longtime Trump ally and donor who is acting as an unofficial White House adviser on Israel. Ron Lauder also reportedly helped convince Trump to try to purchase Greenland from Denmark.

• Daniel Loeb, the hedge fund manager of Third Point, who has given $350,000 to the pro-Cuomo Fix the City super PAC. Loeb has also given $75,000 to the New Yorkers for a Better Future 2025 and Stand Up NYC super PACs, which spent money in the city council primaries.

• The Tisch family, who gave a combined $357,500 to Fix the City, spread across six family members. The family, worth $10.1 billion, owns the Loews Corporation conglomerate, whose holdings include hotels and oil companies, as well as the New York Giants football team. Jonathan and Andrew Tisch were both donors to Fix the City; their niece, Jessica Tisch, is the current Commissioner of the New York Police Department.

• Barry Diller, chairman of the media conglomerate IAC and Expedia Group, who gave $250,000 to Fix the City. Diller, who has a net worth of $5 billion, founded Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch, bought a Miami Beach mansion for $45 million, and owns Eos, one of the largest private yachts in the world, worth $200 million.

• Reed Hastings, the chairman of Netflix, who has a net worth of $6.7 billion, who gave $250,000 to Fix the City. Hastings is a major donor to the Democratic Party and has also become known for pushing charter schools.

• Alice Walton, a Walmart heiress, who gave $200,000 to Fix the City.

• Ken Langone, a GOP mega donor who gave $100,000 to Fix the City.

• James and Kathryn Murdoch (the son of billionaire News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch and his wife), who each gave $50,000 to Fix the City.

• Daniel Och, a hedge fund manager, who gave $50,000 to Fix the City as well as $50,000 to Sensible City, a super PAC that opposed Mamdani.

• Stephen Ross, a Trump fundraiser, real estate developer, and the billionaire owner of Related Companies and the Miami Dolphins, who gave $50,000 to Fix the City.

• Ken Griffin, the billionaire manager of the hedge fund Citadel, who gave $50,000 to Fix the City.

• Thomas Secunda, the billionaire businessman and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., who gave $40,000 to Fix the City.

• Glenn Dubin, a hedge fund billionaire (and Epstein associate), who gave $25,000 to Fix the City.

The race remains tight despite Mamdani’s upset in the primaries. A poll released on August 27 shows Cuomo pulling ahead of Mamdani if Adams and other candidates drop out of the race. With New Yorkers preparing to vote on November 4, money will undoubtedly continue pouring in, and researchers will be looking forward to the next deadline for campaign finance reports to reveal how deeply the ultra-wealthy are willing to invest in the Big Apple’s next mayor.

The campaign finance data presented in this piece was compiled, analyzed, and provided to Truthout by The Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) / LittleSis.