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Billionaire Bill Ackman called out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday and labeled his policies a disaster for New York City.”Money and Rehab” host Nicole Lapin asked Ackman if he was bullish or bearish on the socialist mayor.”I’m not a fan,” he responded. “He’s very smart, very charismatic, very good at politics, but I think the decisions he’s making are very bad for New York.”When asked if he’d consider running for mayor, Ackman said, “I would say possibly, but I think I could achieve a lot more by helping a very talented person do that job.”Ackman brought up Mamdani’s video detailing a proposed tax on second homes worth more than $5 million. He filmed the video outside hedge fun CEO Ken Griffin’s apartment. Bill Ackman and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)ZOHRAN MAMDANI FACES BACKLASH OVER ‘CREEPY,’ ‘UNETHICAL’ VIDEO FILMED OUTSIDE BILLIONAIRE KEN GRIFFIN’S HOME”This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, whose owners do not live full-time in the city. Like for this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” Mamdani said in the clip.Griffin sharply criticized the move, calling it a “personal attack” and a “profound lack of judgment” during remarks at the Norges Bank Investment Management 2026 Investment Conference in Oslo, where he questioned what he described as the “demonizing” of business leaders.”I think he’s scaring away, discouraging. You know, you saw the whole video, I’m sure, with Ken Griffin’s apartment. Ken Griffin is a massive driver of New York City economic value, about to make a massive investment in New York City, and he has this major presence in Miami, and now he’s increasing the presence in Miami and diminishing the presence in New York. That’s a disaster,” Ackman said in the podcast interview.He said the many things Mamdani wants to fund and pay for require the revenue of people like Griffin.”So, if you scare away Ken Griffin, we discourage the Ken Griffins of the world from being in New York City. it’s a disaster for New York,” Ackman added. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was elected in November 2025 and sworn-in as the city’s first socialist mayor on Jan. 1, 2026. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)NEW YORK CITY LANDLORDS WARN AMERICAN DREAM IS SLIPPING AWAY UNDER SOCIALIST RENT POLICIESAckman said earlier in the podcast that he hoped Mamdani could be a better mayor but that he didn’t feel that socialism was the answer.The billionaire hedge fund manager took issue with several of Mamdani’s policies, including the rent freezes. Ackman said Mamdani was right to address the housing affordability crisis in the city, but that his plan to freeze rent was not going to help.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE”There are buildings in New York that are comprised of rent-stabilized units and where those people got a two-year rent freeze, and free market units where those people their rents had to go up in order for the landlord to cover their, you know, costs that have inflated because half his rent roll is fixed for the next two years,” Ackman said. “I mean, that seems like an entirely unfair system.” Bill Ackman speaks during the WSJ D.Live global technology conference in Laguna Beach, California on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. (Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPHe said it was also discouraging development in the city, and said Mamdani wasn’t doing anything to increase the housing supply, which Ackman argued would bring down the cost of rent.”Developers are risk takers, and they’re the last dollar in, and they’re not going to risk their capital unless they believe it’s a friendly environment for landlords,” he added. “New York has become a very unfriendly environment for landlords.”Ackman did praise Mamdani for starting a “DOGE-like” savings effort and said he hoped it goes somewhere.Mamdani’s office did not immediately return a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
