Billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman is taking another jab at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s far-left policies – as he declines to rule out his own potential mayoral run one day.
“I’m not a fan,” Ackman said of the democratic socialist in an episode of podcast “Money Rehab” this week.
“He’s very smart, very charismatic, very good at politics, but I think the decisions he’s making are very bad for New York.”
Asked whether he would ever consider running for mayor himself, 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 was playing a speed-round game of “bullish and bearish,” giving his opinions on Bitcoin, gold, sports betting, the Trump administration and Mamdani, when he took the opportunity to criticize the mayor’s decision to make enemies of the city’s wealthiest.
Mamdani infuriated New York’s business community when he released an April 15 video promoting his and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new pied-à-terre tax on second luxury homes – filming himself directly outside the Citadel founder’s 24,000-square-foot property at 220 Central Park South.
“I mean, all the various things that Mamdani wants to pay for require revenues from the likes of people like Ken Griffin. So if you scare away Ken Griffin or discourage the Ken Griffins of the world from being in New York City, it’s a disaster for New York,” Ackman told podcast host Nicole Lapin.
“I don’t think the country or New York City has a revenue problem,” he added. “I think we have an efficiency and waste problem.”
Ackman, who recently spent $260 million to create a massive brain research institute in Manhattan, said Griffin is “a massive driver of New York City economic value” who is now “increasing [his] presence in Miami and diminishing [his] presence in New York.”
Following the video’s release, Griffin – whose firm employs thousands of workers in New York – signaled he might yank a $6 billion development project planned for the city.
Griffin has since called on New Yorkers to “fight for their city” against “tax the rich” mantra – while simultaneously expanding the footprint of a planned multibillion-dollar development project in Miami, according to reports.
As for President Trump’s second term in office, on the other hand, Ackman heaped praise on the commander-in-chief and said he is optimistic about the next two-and-a-half years.
“I like the president and I think he’s done a lot of things right,” Ackman said. “I decided to support him relatively earlier on and I’m happy I did and I think he’s vastly better than what the alternative is.”
He added that he likes presidents who don’t “have to worry about getting re-elected” so they can just focus on policy without factoring in politics.
In terms of his investing hot takes, Ackman said he is bearish on sports betting, gold and Bitcoin.
As for sports betting and prediction markets, Ackman said it’s only worth it if an investor has a specific edge, warning that “a lot of the younger generation’s wasting a lot of money betting on sports.”
The Pershing Square Capital founder said he does not own any gold, saying it’s “just not my thing” – even though “it’s done actually quite well,” likely referencing a huge rally in precious metals last year that has since reversed course.
“I’d rather own businesses that can compound in value than gold,” Ackman said. “Problem is, it’s an asset that’s only worth what people tell you they’re prepared to pay for it and it doesn’t pay you any yield in the meantime, whereas every other asset that I invest in is one that generates some form of yield.”
It’s the same story for Bitcoin, sometimes referred to as “digital gold,” he continued.
“I don’t own any Bitcoin. None. It’s very analogous, I would say, to gold,” Ackman said. “I think it’s cool, but I don’t know whether it’s worth 50,000, 70,000, 5,000 or a trillion. I have no idea.”