Wall Street reckons with life under Zohran Mamdani : NPR

Wall Street's Expensive Bet Against Zogran Mamdani turned out to be a bad investment.

New York City CEOs and other billionaire business leaders have spent more than $40 million trying to stop Mamdani from becoming the city's next mayor. Now they have to live with him – and their reactions range from threatening to leave town To pragmatic acceptance.

“I think these are the stages of grief,” says Catherine Wild, head of the Partnership of New York, an influential business group that represents more than 300 large employers.

Over the past few months, Wild has mediated meetings between her members and Mamdani. Her reaction to his victory this week was practical and tinged with optimism.

“The partnership works with whoever wins,” she says. “Zokhran has won a landslide victory and so we will seek to be its partner in addressing the challenges facing the city, which are now significant.”

These problems include ongoing accessibility crisis that Mamdani made the central message of his campaign. But he has proposed solving the problem with some policies that businesses and the wealthy people who run them don't like, including rent freezes and tax hikes.

Supporters celebrate at an election watch party in Brooklyn on November 4, 2025 after Zoran Mamdani was declared the winner of the race for mayor of New York City.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, North America

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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, North America

Speaking on WNYC on WednesdayMamdani vowed to spend his first 100 days “taking concrete and significant steps to address the cost of living crisis that is pushing so many New Yorkers out of the city.”

He also promised to fight “corporate greed.”

Mamdani's leaders' opposition is as much about business as it is about emotion

Practically speaking, Mamdani won't be able to raise taxes without the help of the New York State government. But his proposal at least threatens to make the city more expensive for both businesses and billionaires in an attempt to rein in costs for the rest of the city's residents.

Wild notes that some business leaders had other reasons to oppose him. His rhetoric about “corporate greed” and his personality “Democratic socialist” are usually trigger words for hardcore capitalists.

And there is also his relative youthful age of 34, which was part of it appeal to young votersbut is even more alienating to executives who may be decades older.

“Universal [initial] The reaction was, “Would you hire this young man to run a corporation with 300,000 employees?” And, of course, the answer was: “Absolutely not,” says Wilde.

Many executives in New York also have deeper, more emotional stakes. largest Jewish population outside of Israel. The conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as Mamdani's criticism of the Israeli government, have become major tensions in this election.

ABOUT a third of Jewish voters According to CNN exit polls, they voted for Mamdani. He has spoken out against anti-Semitism and said Wednesday he looks forward to working with Jewish leaders across the city.

Meanwhile, some of Mamdani's most vocal billionaire opponents appeared to accept defeat this week. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman spent about $2 million trying to defeat the new mayor, but on Tuesday he publicly congratulated him.

“You now have a greater responsibility,” Ekman. published on X. “If I can help New York, just let me know what I can do.”