Mamdani’s Tax-the-Rich Video Sparks Fury After Hedgefund Honcho Ken Griffin Calls Him Out for Divisively Gloating

Billionaires are fuming over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s performative celebration of the proposed pied-à-terre luxury tax announced Wednesday, with some accusing him of stirring up class warfare by filming a video in front of a building where billionaire Ken Griffin is a tenant. “Our theater kid Mayor about to learn some cruel laws of economics: you can’t tax a city into prosperity and you don’t attract capital by demonizing philanthropists who can take their investment and employees elsewhere, hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb wrote on X. In Mr. Mamdani’s video, the Democratic Socialist boasts to the camera that he had made good on his promise to “tax the rich” before singling out Citadel founder and billionaire Ken Griffin as the kind of person his new surcharge, if passed, would gin up more money for — even filming the video in front of 220 Central Park South, where Mr. Griffin famously owns a $238 million penthouse. The decision to go after Mr. Griffin, whose firms Citadel and Citadel Securities employ roughly 1,500 people in New York City, struck many as ill-advised and poorly timed. Mr. Griffin’s companies are also the anchor tenants for a proposed commercial skyscraper on 350 Park Avenue that, when finished, would be the tallest-ever skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. CNBC news anchor Sara Eisen questioned Mr. Mamdani’s decision to target Mr. Griffin. “Making him feel unwelcome and demonizing him seems risky. Ken left Chicago and moved Citadel headquarters to Miami a few years ago because of bad policy,” Ms. Eisen wrote on X. “Such a disgusting little man. He’s not only demonizing wealthy New Yorkers. He’s doxxing them,” radio host Gerry Callahan wrote on X.aGovernor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced a new pied-à-terre luxury tax on those who own second homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more. The new luxury surcharge would only apply to such apartments within New York City’s five boroughs, could raise roughly $500 million per year, and help the city address its purported $5.4 billion budget shortfall that Mr. Mamdani believes can be addressed by taxing the wealthy. Also on Thursday, Mr. Mamdani released his 2025 tax return to reporters on Thursday, revealing he had made $131,296 from his salary as an assemblyman while his wife made just $10,010 as a graphic designer. Mr. Mamdani, who had a brief career as a rapper before eventually moving into state politics, made $1,643 in royalties from his hip hop catalogue. The couple, who filed jointly, received a $7,011 refund.

Mamdani’s Tax-the-Rich Video Sparks Fury After Hedgefund Honcho Ken Griffin Calls Him Out for Divisively Gloating

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