Democrats swept the major elections Tuesday, delivering a blow to billionaires who mostly funded Republican campaigns—particularly in New York City, where more than 26 billionaires donated to campaigns against Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Key Facts
- In addition to Mamdani, a democratic socialist and New York Assembly member, Democratic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger beat Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to win the Virginia gubernatorial race, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, and California voters approved a new congressional map drawn by Democrats that will add five Democratic-leaning seats.
Billionaire Election Winners: Github’s Preston-Werner, Linkedin’s Hoffman
- Two billionaires donated to groups working to elect Mamdani: Elizabeth Simons, the daughter of heir to the late hedge fund billionaire Jim Simons’ fortune, donated $250,000, while GitHub cofounder Tom Preston-Werner donated $20,000.
- Billionaire LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman supported Spanberger in Virginia.
- Hedge fund billionaire Thomas Steyer spent $12 million in support of California’s ballot measure.
Billionaire Election Losers: Bloomberg, Ackman—and Others
At least 26 billionaires spent at least $27 million between March and Oct. 22 on groups campaigning against Mamdani, Forbes reported previously:
- Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than any other individual billionaire donor ($8.3 million) and made last-minute $5 million donations to anti-Mamdani groups in the days leading up to the election.
- Joseph Gebbia: $3 million
- Lauder family: $2.6 million
- Bill Ackman: $1.75 million
- Tisch Family: $1.2 million
- John Hess and family: $1 million
- Daniel Loeb: $775,000
- Barry Diller: $500,000
- Steve Wynn: $500,000
- Marcella Guarino Hymowitz (spouse of billionaire Gregg Hymowitz): $400,000
- David Walentas: $350,000
- Reed Hastings: $250,000
- John Fish: $250,000
- David Lichtenstein: $250,000
- Alice Walton: $200,000
- Deborah Simon (of the Simon family): $200,000
- Jerry Speyer: $150,000
- Stephanie Coleman (spouse of billionaire Chase Coleman III): $150,000
- Durst family: $110,000
- Fisher family: $110,000
- Daniel Och: $100,000
- Ken Langone: $100,000
- James and Kathryn Murdoch: $100,000
- Bruce and Suzie Kovner: $100,000
- Richard Kurtz: $100,000
- Elghanayan family: $100,000
At least several billionaires donated in support of Earle-Sears:
- Black Entertainment Television cofounder Robert Johnson ($500,000) and Interactive Brokers founder Thomas Peterffy ($300,000), according to OpenSecrets.
- Elizabeth Uihlein: $250,000, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
- Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick: $200,000, the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism reported.
In New Jersey, Reebok CEO Paul Fireman donated in support of Ciattarelli.
Billionaire Charles Munger Jr. donated $30 million to defeat the California ballot initiative.
Tangent
Some business leaders suggested they were open to working with Mamdani, who has said billionaires should not exist and campaigned against wealth inequality. Ackman, who has repeatedly criticized Mamdani throughout his campaign, congratulated him in a post on X late Tuesday and said in a subsequent post Wednesday, “while I did not support Mamdani for mayor and have concerns about the unintended and negative consequences of his policies, I want to do everything I can to help NYC regardless of who are mayor is.” BlackRock cofounder Ralph Schlosstein told Bloomberg “I’m certainly not a socialist . . . I’m not going anywhere, whoever the mayor is. I’m going to do whatever I can to help him be successful.” Citigroup Inc. CEO Jane Fraser told Bloomberg “we hope to work with the Mayor-elect on making the city an even better place for our people and clients to live and work.” Billionaire developer Stephen Ross told The New York Times “I think a lot of business leaders are going to ask themselves where they can be successful considering new laws and policies they may come up against,” suggesting they could move out of New York City.
Key Background
Mamdani won the race when it was called by the Associated Press with 50.5% of votes, ahead of independent candidate, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (41.4%) and Republican Curtis Sliwa (7.3%). In Virginia, Spanberger won 55% of the vote and Earle-Sears polled at 45% when the race was called. Sherrill won 57% of the vote, ahead of Ciatterelli with 43%. Democrats’ sweep is widely viewed as a rebuke on President Donald Trump’s aggressive second-term agenda and could help re-energize Democrats ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
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This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
