‘Ken Griffin isn’t a villain’: Why Jeff Bezos is defending the billionaire Citadel CEO who owns America’s most expensive apartment amid Zohran Mamdani’s $5 million NYC tax plan

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has entered the debate over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed pied-à-terre tax, saying the plan itself could be reasonable while criticising the way some of the city’s wealthiest residents have been targeted.

According to a Fortune report, the proposed tax would impose an annual surcharge on non-primary residences valued at $5 million or more. Bezos, who owns a residence in New York City, said the proposal was “a fine thing for New York to do”, but warned that city leaders need to be careful about raising taxes too aggressively.

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Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed a pied-à-terre tax to support Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s efforts to close New York City’s budget gap. The proposal targets luxury second homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more, allowing the city to levy a yearly tax surcharge aimed at ultrawealthy, non-New York City residents.

Jeff Bezos’ also defended billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin after Zohran Mamdani filmed a video in April outside Griffin's New York penthouse to promote a new tax on luxury properties in the city. The founder and chief executive of hedge fund Citadel, who also owns America's most expensive apartment, said Mamdani was "making it really clear: New York doesn't welcome success".

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Jeff Bezos compares pied-à-terre tax with hotel taxes

Bezos compared the proposed tax with taxes imposed on hotels and visitors, arguing that New York needs to strike a balance between raising revenue and remaining attractive to tourists and wealthy residents.

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“If you raise the hotel taxes too much, tourists stop coming. So you have to be judicious,” Bezos said. His comments suggest that he does not necessarily oppose higher taxes, but believes there is a limit to how much additional cost New York can impose before people begin changing their behaviour.

The issue is particularly important for New York, where tourism, real estate, finance and investment play major roles in the city’s economy.

Jeff Bezos slams Mamdani’s ‘villain strategy’

Bezos was more critical of the way Zohran Mamdani promoted the proposed pied-à-terre tax.

Mamdani had filmed an April 14 video outside Citadel CEO Ken Griffin’s Central Park South penthouse while announcing the tax proposal. Bezos argued that Griffin should not be portrayed as a villain simply because he is wealthy.

“Ken Griffin isn’t a villain. He hasn’t hurt anybody. He’s not hurting New York. In fact, quite the opposite,” Bezos said. He described the approach as a “villain strategy”, shifting the discussion from taxation itself to the political messaging surrounding wealthy New Yorkers.

Griffin had called Mamdani’s video “creepy” and threatened to cancel a proposed $6 billion Midtown development project, prompting mediation by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Bezos says government spending needs scrutiny

Rather than focusing only on whether billionaires should pay more, Bezos redirected the discussion toward government spending.

“Any corporate CEO, CFO worth their salt—an Amazon CFO could find 3% in the federal budget on a Tuesday afternoon. There is so much waste in government spending,” he argued.

The Amazon founder’s broader point is that governments should examine inefficiencies and waste before assuming that additional taxation is the best solution to financial problems. That argument puts Bezos at odds with Mamdani’s approach to raising revenue from wealthy New Yorkers.

Bezos has criticised Zohran Mamdani before

This is not the first time Jeff Bezos has criticised Zohran Mamdani’s economic policies. Bezos recently questioned New York City’s public school spending, arguing that simply providing more funding does not necessarily fix an inefficient system.

During an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bezos compared New York City’s education system with Amazon’s operations.

“If we ran Amazon the way New York City runs their school system, your packages would take six weeks to arrive. We’d have to charge you a $100 delivery fee. And then when the package did finally arrive, it’d have the wrong item in it anyway,” Bezos told CNBC.

He has also challenged Mamdani’s argument that higher taxes on billionaires could significantly improve life for working-class New Yorkers.

Mamdani responded with a pointed remark: “I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ.”