Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is the elected mayor of New York, scheduled for January 1, and some billionaires are already considering moving their businesses out of the largest city in the United States.
Real estate investor and Starwood Property Trust CEO Barry Sternlicht told the Daily Mail on Sunday that his company is considering relocating now that Mamdani will be the city’s next mayor, and anticipates other companies will do the same.
Also read:
Take your business to the next level with the country’s top entrepreneurs!
The commercial real estate mogul and Starwood founder — who reported on Monday that he had $29.9 billion in total assets in the third quarter — suggested that tenants will feel emboldened not to pay rent under Mamdani’s watch.
“The far left gets really crazy and says tenants don’t have to pay. Well, you can’t kick them out if they don’t pay,” Sternlicht said.
“Then the neighbor finds out that the other neighbor isn’t paying, and he doesn’t pay, and the next one doesn’t pay, and basically you’re going to turn New York into Mumbai,” he added, alluding to the Indian city facing overcrowding, housing shortages and poor housing conditions.
Continues after advertising
Mamdani’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During his campaign, Mamdani said he wants to expand eviction protections for the city’s tenants, although he has not publicly advocated housing policies that allow rent nonpayment.
Starwood Capital Group, a private investment firm that owns a majority stake in Starwood Property Trust, is also led by Sternlicht. The company has helped finance major luxury residential developments such as Rafael Viñoly’s The Greenwich and a new 46-story residential tower in Long Island City.
In November, Starwood Property Trust provided a $161 million loan to refinance the Forty Six Fifty building, a 22-story residential building with 222 apartments in Manhattan.
Last week, Sternlicht told CNBC that “socialism has never worked anywhere.”
“We have a big office here, and, well, we’ll see how that works out, but the team in New York is saying for the first time, ‘Maybe we should leave,’” he added.
Continues after advertising
On the other hand, billionaires like Jamie Dimon and Bill Ackman are offering to help Mamdani, despite previously criticizing his policies and funding his main competitor, Andrew Cuomo.
And some business leaders who once threatened to leave the city under a Mamdani administration are backtracking.
Hedge fund manager Ricky Sandler threatened to move his company — which manages about $7.8 billion — out of the city after Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June and became the favorite to win the election.
Continues after advertising
But on Thursday, the 6th, Sandler, who donated $500,000 to a group supporting Cuomo, wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that he still has no plans to move, although he said the city will be “potentially much worse” with Mamdani in power.
“Personally, my biggest concern is safety and quality of life,” he added. “Secondly, I fear that Mamdani’s policies and inexperience could create a fiscal crisis that further harms security and quality of life.”
Supermarket chain owner John Catsimatidis, who threatened to move his business if Mamdani won the election, told Forbes on Friday that he may consider moving the headquarters of the Red Apple group — which operates Gristedes and D’Agostino supermarkets in New York — to “friendly” states like Florida.
Continues after advertising
This comes as Mamdani proposes the creation of public grocery stores, subsidized by the government, that would not need to pay rent or taxes and would partner with farmers and small businesses. Products would be sold at wholesale prices to reduce costs.
Still, no businessman has presented concrete plans to leave the city after Mamdani’s victory. But, “I think a lot of business owners are reducing their exposure to New York City,” Catsimatidis told Forbes.
2025 Fortune Media IP Limited
