Wall Street panics over prospect of a socialist running New York City

On Wednesday morning, the world's epicenter of capitalism woke up to find it might soon have a socialist mayor.

- Kevin T. Dugan, Gregory Zuckerman & Brian Schwartz

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's stunning win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor shocked Wall Street. Some of the world's most influential and powerful financiers were left grasping to understand what Mamdani's victory would mean for their industry—and whether they would leave the city.

"It's officially hot commie summer," Dan Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point, and a major Cuomo backer, wrote on X. Mamdani's campaign was, up until a few weeks ago, a long shot. The Wall Street Journal successfully predicted the outcome of the 2024 presidential election; Cuomo had odds as high as 92.5% on May 27. Negative ads against Mamdani paid for by Wall Street-funded super political-action committees, as well as also-ran candidate Whitney Tilson—himself an investor—blanketed airwaves and filled residents' mailboxes.

Mamdani's platform includes increasing taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. He has said he would make the city more affordable by freezing rents on rent-stabilized apartments, investing $70 billion in publicly subsidized housing, providing free bus service and opening government-operated grocery stores.

Cuomo's lock on Wall Street was all but taken for granted. He had the loud backing from billionaire figures such as Bill Ackman, Loeb and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. On Tuesday night, Mamdani's win became apparent soon after polls closed: A nine-point lead in early votes held about steady as the day-of voting results came in. Cuomo conceded before the end of the night, leaving open questions of whether he will run in the general election in November.

Wall Street quickly started to worry.