On Wednesday morning, the world’s epicenter of capitalism woke up to find it might soon have a socialist mayor.
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s stunning win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor shocked Wall Street. Some of the world’s most influential and powerful financiers were left grasping to understand what Mamdani’s victory would mean for their industry—and whether they would leave the city.
“It’s officially hot commie summer,” Dan Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point, and a major Cuomo backer, wrote on X.
Mamdani’s campaign was, up until a few weeks ago, a long shot. On Polymarket, which successfully predicted the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, Cuomo had odds as high as 92.5% on May 27. Negative ads against Mamdani paid for by Wall Street-funded super political-action committees, as well as also-ran candidate Whitney Tilson —himself an investor—blanketed airwaves and filled residents’ mailboxes.
Mamdani’s platform includes increasing taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. He has said he would make the city more affordable by freezing rents on rent-stabilized apartments, investing $70 billion in publicly subsidized housing, providing free bus service and opening government-operated grocery stores.
Cuomo’s lock on Wall Street was all but taken for granted. He had the loud backing from billionaire figures such as Bill Ackman, Loeb and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
On Tuesday night, Mamdani’s win became apparent soon after polls closed: A nine-point lead in early votes held about steady as the day-of voting results came in. Cuomo conceded before the end of the night, leaving open questions of whether he will run in the general election in November.
Wall Street quickly started to worry.
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“There are a lot of warning signs flashing here. The next mayor here is going to have his hands full,” said Ed Skyler, a former deputy mayor under Bloomberg, who is now an executive at Citigroup.
Some of the financial executives spoke of backing Mayor Eric Adams, who is expected to run in November election under party lines he created: “Safe&Affordable” and “EndAntiSemitism.” Financial titans had found Adams an early improvement from his predecessor Bill de Blasio.
Corporate leaders held a flurry of private phone calls to plot how to fight back against Mamdani’s primary victory and discussed backing an outside group with the goal of raising around $20 million to oppose him, according to people familiar with the matter.
The calls also discussed efforts to coalesce behind Adams and working to keep Cuomo out of the race, the people said. They also discussed trying to get Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, to drop out by getting the White House to offer him a job in the Trump administration, the people said.
Not everyone was downbeat about the primary results, though. On CNBC, Philippe Laffont, founder of hedge fund Coatue Management, said the city would likely continue to thrive, arguing that it withstood the tenure of de Blasio, who embraced policies that some in the business community opposed.
“We had Mayor de Blasio for eight years, New York is really strong, I’m hopeful the same will happen,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “And there’s still an election.”
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Mamdani’s wide support, however, seemed to expose how Wall Street has changed in recent decades. There were more individual donors from major banks to Mamdani than there were to Cuomo, according to city campaign-finance records where donors listed their employers.
But many of them were among the increasingly large ranks of tech staff and other non-finance employees. Three Goldman Sachs software engineers were listed as donating directly to Mamdani, for instance. Only one financier at Goldman publicly gave directly to Cuomo, according to the records.
Other bankers who quietly supported Mamdani wouldn’t talk on the record. One tried to use a fake name.
The level of support for Cuomo among the moneyed set was so high that viral TikTok videos skewered the phenomenon in recent weeks, as Election Day neared. “You seem like such an alpha,” a woman says in one video to her fictional date with a finance bro. “So, you’re voting for Cuomo, right?”
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Even with high support, Cuomo’s campaign lacked the kind of enthusiasm that rocketed Mamdani to his primary win, even among bankers and traders. “Confidence is a great trait, but it didn’t get his supporters out to vote,” Skyler said.
Wednesday, bankers and traders were trying to figure out the repercussions of a Mamdani mayoralty, should he win the general election.
Some voiced concern about Mamdani’s plan to freeze the rent of millions of New Yorkers who live in rent stabilized apartments, saying it would deter new investment in housing, reduce supply and push up prices for everyone else.
“I can’t believe I even need to say this, but socialism doesn’t work,” said Anthony Pompliano, CEO of Professional Capital Management, a bitcoin-focused financial services company. “It has failed in every American city it was tried.”
There were renewed questions about whether Wall Street executives would stay in New York or if Mamdani’s plans for the city would send more financiers to states such as Florida and Texas. Some executives cited concerns about taxes and crime under a potential Mamdani administration as well as fears of rising antisemitism.
Sander Gerber, chief executive of investment firm Hudson Bay Capital, said he fielded texts from some of his 170 employees who said they were “thinking of leaving.”
Some developers and landlords said they are already making plans to exit New York and focus on more business-friendly markets like Miami, Dallas or Nashville.
“I’m depressed and sad,” said Ricky Sandler, who runs Eminence Capital, a Midtown Manhattan hedge fund, which employs 55 people. “If Mamdani becomes mayor, I will likely move my business and family out of New York.”
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