Zohran Mamdani becomes new mayor of New York City. Why is Wall Street so afraid?

Zohran Mamdani has officially taken over as mayor of New York City, and Wall Street is sweating.

After a brutal campaign filled with money dumps, fear ads, and non-stop smear jobs, Zohran won Tuesday’s election in a landslide. The same financial giants who branded him a socialist threat are now scrambling to play nice.

Billionaire investor Billy Ackman, who once warned that Zohran’s rise was the beginning of “hot commie summer,” changed his tone completely. “Congrats on the win,” Bill wrote on X. “Now you have a big responsibility. If I can help NYC, just let me know what I can do,” he added.

Ackman’s attacks had been relentless throughout the race. During a podcast interview on Flagrant last month, Zohran joked, “He’s spending more money against me than I would even tax him.”

But despite the resistance from the city’s richest residents, Zohran came out on top, and the new reality is forcing finance leaders to face something they’ve long avoided: a mayor who calls out capitalism by name.

Business leaders change tone as Zohran settles in

Ralph Schlosstein, former CEO of Evercore and co-founder of BlackRock, said he’s ready to work with Zohran, even though their politics don’t align. “I am certainly not a socialist, having spent 45 years in finance, in the private sector,” Ralph said.

“But I care deeply about the city, and I’m not going anywhere, whoever the mayor is.” He’s exploring ways to support the new administration, including joining a business advisory group being formed to help guide city policy.

That group could include names like Kevin Ryan and Andrew Milgram. Andrew, who leads Marblegate Asset Management, has worked with Zohran before on the taxi medallion debt crisis.

According to Andrew, Zohran fought alongside struggling drivers, even joining their hunger strike. He said the mayor-elect helped get Marblegate to buy the loans and forgive $400 million in debt.

“This was not a fly-by photo op for an aspiring politician,” Andrew said. “He brought everyone together to drive to a solution.”

Mark Kronfeld, a longtime New Yorker and former BlackRock executive, said Wall Street needs to stop acting like the sky is falling. “Is it a dystopian, post-apocalyptic environment because Mamdani has won? No,” Mark said.

He compared Zohran to Donald Trump, not ideologically, but in strategy. “He wanted to be attacked by people who would never support him, it became his marketing narrative.”

And that narrative worked. Even people making millions secretly backed him. One Bank of America employee with an eight-figure salary admitted he supported Zohran but couldn’t say it out loud at work.

Tension lingers as Wall Street questions what’s next

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, previously called Zohran “more of a Marxist than a socialist.” Now, Jamie’s offering to help.

Citigroup’s Jane Fraser said her team hopes to work with Zohran “on making the city an even better place for our people and clients to live and work.” Still, not everything is smoothed over.

Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, said Zohran needs to reassure the Jewish community. Antisemitic hate crimes have spiked, and some business leaders are watching how he handles his criticism of Israel.

Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Zohran in the Democratic primary before running as an independent, made his support for Israel a cornerstone of his campaign. He still pulled over 40% of the general vote but couldn’t stop Zohran’s momentum.

Mike Novogratz, a crypto billionaire, said Zohran’s message is hitting a nerve. “We’ve got a tale of two cities in the Dickensian sense, to a degree we haven’t seen since we’ve been alive,” Mike said. “Can you address the affordability issue in creative ways without driving business out?”

David Tawil, who runs a crypto hedge fund, wasn’t as hopeful. He said there’s no solution to New York’s affordability crisis. “Cry me a river over the affordability, no one said you need to stay in New York,” David said. He now lives on the Jersey Shore, having left Manhattan over high costs.

Despite Zohran’s anti-wealth rhetoric, many of his supporters are young professionals barely holding on. Data shows at least 65,000 households earning $100,000 to $300,000 pay more than a third of their income on rent. Most of them backed him in the primary.

Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, warned Zohran can’t govern like a protester.

“Legislators like AOC or Sanders can spend a career in office without initiating and passing a single bill,” Lloyd said. “But mayors are executives. Garbage has to get picked up; snow has to be moved; crime has to stay under control.”

Ed Skyler, a Citigroup executive and former deputy mayor, added, “It’s about public safety and quality of life more broadly. Those go in the wrong direction, and any employer is going to have a hard time attracting and keeping good people.”

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