Billionaire Bill Ackman Vows Massive War Chest to Defeat Socialist Zohran Mamdani in NYC Mayoral Race

Billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman is sounding the alarm over Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary—and he’s putting his money where his mouth is. Ackman pledged “hundreds of millions of dollars” to bankroll any serious challenger who can keep the self-styled socialist from seizing City Hall this November.

Mamdani, a 33-year-old Queens assemblyman who openly supports defunding the NYPD, government-run grocery stores, expanded rent freezes, and $65 million in taxpayer-funded transgender procedures, toppled disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s primary. He now faces incumbent Mayor Eric Adams (running as an independent), Republican Curtis Sliwa, and independent Jim Walden in a crowded general-election field.

Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital, unloaded on X:

On public safety: A mayor who “disrespects the NYPD” will get less policing and usher in the reverse of the broken-windows theory—making New York “much more dangerous and economically unviable.”
On economics: Freezing rents and replacing private supermarkets with city-run stores will turn the nation’s financial capital into “another failed major city run by Democrats”—akin to Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
On hate speech: Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric, including refusing to condemn calls to “globalize the intifada,” would embolden extremists and threaten Jewish New Yorkers.

Ackman says powerful donors are “in the text strings and WhatsApp groups” ready to deploy instant financing for a write-in or independent candidate. He even floated former Mayor Michael Bloomberg as someone who could supply a turnkey campaign apparatus to a viable contender.

Wall Street’s reaction? Panic. With New York’s $2.3 trillion economy on the line, traders warn of a mass exodus if Mamdani wins in November. Ackman’s message is clear: the capital—and the cash—are prepared to do whatever it takes to stop a socialist takeover of New York City.