Ken Griffin says he had to watch it twice before he fully understood it.
Griffin said the initial reaction to the video New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani posted on social media on Tax Day, shot from outside Griffin’s $238 million penthouse at 220 South Central Park and used as a prop to promote the Citadel CEO’s new pied-à-terre tax, was in disbelief. “When I first saw it, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he told CNBC’s Sarah Eisen at the Milken Global Conference on Tuesday. “It took me a while to understand what I was seeing.”
What followed was not just frustration, but genuine alarm, Griffin said.
“What’s really upsetting about this video is the fact that it caused me harm,” Griffin told Eisen. “He seems to have forgotten that just a few blocks from New York, where I live, another American company CEO was assassinated.” The reference was clearly to the December 2024 killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown hotel. “It is inappropriate for a political leader to put the public at risk,” Griffin said.
“It was in really bad taste to turn me into a political puppet. It was in really bad taste.”
Mamdani’s play
Mr. Mamdani filmed a video on April 15, standing in front of Mr. Griffin’s building and announcing what he called the first pied-à-terre tax, an annual levy on residential properties worth more than $5 million owned by non-full-time city residents. The proposal is expected to generate at least $500 million. The penthouse, which Griffin bought for a record price in 2019, became the centerpiece of Mamdani’s pitch. “When I ran for mayor, I promised to tax the wealthy. Today, we are taxing the wealthy,” the mayor declared.
Griffin also pushed back on the policy itself. “This tax is also disconcerting because it discriminates against a limited number of people,” he said. “Are there going to be special tax rates for office building owners who live out of state? For example, where in New York is this stop?”
miami victory
This episode had tangible business implications. Following Mamdani’s move, Griffin said Citadel had already applied for permission from the city of Miami to expand its new headquarters by “hundreds of thousands of square feet” and said the decision was made “without regret.” Griffin told Eisen that Citadel will add even more jobs in Miami over the next 10 years as an immediate and direct result of the mayor’s bad decisions, which he said was a direct response to Mamdani’s video. “Once this is all said and done, we’ll probably move forward with construction. But let me tell you, this is really controversial.”
Griffin declined to comment three times about his meeting with New York Gov. Cathy Hochul, which occurred shortly after the social media video. He said he was shocked by a spokesperson for Hochul’s office who said Mamdani had “scored political points” with the video. “Wow, that’s real leadership, Governor Hochul,” Griffin said sarcastically.
Griffin’s Miami counterpunch didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this month, even before Tuesday’s interview, Citadel quietly scrapped plans for a hotel at its new Brickell headquarters, converting it into a standalone 54-story, 1.7 million-square-foot all-office tower at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, a bayfront site that Griffin purchased for $363 million in 2022.
This expansion is also the most visible real-world result yet of an intentional billionaire-backed campaign. luck I track it all year round. In February, luck I spoke with Mike Simas, president of the Florida Council of 100, who along with Griffin and Associated Companies Chairman Stephen Ross are seeding a $10 million national recruitment drive called Ambition Accelerated aimed at CEOs, founders and investors weighing New York, California and Florida’s Gold Coast. Last week, former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez revealed: luckpage stated that he was participating in the campaign as a senior advisor. Mamdani’s Penthouse video may have been the best recruitment ad of the campaign.
Griffin concluded with a broad warning for New York, citing a familiar cautionary tale. “In the 1950s, Detroit was the wealthiest city in America per capita,” he says. “Detroit was our country’s powerhouse.” The implications were acute. No city, no matter how dominant, is immune to the effects of displacing the people who support its economy. “With 1% of New York State taxpayers paying 45% of all taxes, it puts New York City in a precarious position if we allow the people who create value to think they would be better off moving their businesses and lives to other jurisdictions.”
Griffin’s dissatisfaction with Albany fits into a broader worldview. luck‘s Sean Talley reflected in March: Griffin sees himself not just as a business builder, but as a political force who can reshape the Republican Party and, by extension, American governance. Mr. Griffin is sure to continue his long-standing argument that no city, no matter how dominant, is immune to the effects of displacing the productive class.
Regarding this story, luck Journalists used generative AI as an investigative tool. Editors verified the accuracy of the information before publication.
