Billionaires spent $22 million to stop Mamdani, but New Yorkers voted for him anyway

Public filings show more than two dozen billionaires bankrolled a $22 million push against Zohran Mamdani’s platform of rent freezes, corporate tax hikes and free city bus service. The campaign, led by Michael Bloomberg and Bill Ackman, financed ad buys and mailers framing Mamdani’s proposals as threats to business stability. Voters instead delivered him a near nine-point victory, defying the city’s most expensive independent spending effort in decades.

At least 26 billionaires contributed to super PACs opposing Mamdani’s candidacy, according to campaign finance reports. Bloomberg gave more than $8 million, making him the largest single donor, while Ackman contributed about $1.75 million across two committees, Defend NYC and Fix the City. Other contributors included Ronald Lauder and his family, who spent roughly $2.6 million, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia with about $3 million and media executive Barry Diller with $500,000. Casino developer Steve Wynn donated a similar amount, while Walmart heir Alice Walton contributed around $200,000.

The donors and their committees opposed Mamdani’s proposals to increase corporate taxes and freeze rents, describing them as harmful to New York’s business climate and fiscal stability. The campaign framed his platform as a direct threat to private investment and the city’s real estate market, arguing that such policies would discourage development and strain the budget.

The committees used the funds to flood television, radio and digital platforms with ads warning that Mamdani’s proposals would drive out business investment and destabilize the city’s budget. Bloomberg’s Fix the City committee paid for mailers in Queens and Manhattan highlighting what it called the “economic risks” of his rent freeze plan. Defend NYC, backed partly by Ackman, funded targeted digital ads describing Mamdani’s free transit proposal as “fiscally reckless.”

Mamdani responded directly to the attacks during his campaign, arguing that the spending revealed who his agenda challenged most. “Billionaires like Bill Ackman and Ronald Lauder have poured millions of dollars into this race because they say that we pose an existential threat,” he said in a campaign statement.

Despite the scale of the spending, Mamdani’s campaign built a broad field operation that reached voters in neighborhoods most affected by housing and transit issues. Volunteers canvassed across immigrant-heavy areas of Queens and Brooklyn, distributing translated materials and emphasizing policies on affordability and public transit. His campaign relied on small-dollar donations and community organizing rather than large donors or corporate funding.

Official results confirmed that Mamdani won by nearly nine percentage points, carrying majorities in Queens, Brooklyn and parts of the Bronx. The victory secured him 58% of the vote, according to certified election data. His win concluded one of the most expensive mayoral races in New York City’s history and dealt a clear setback to some of the country’s wealthiest political donors, whose spending failed to sway the electorate despite unprecedented financial investment.