Billionaire GOP Megadonor Fumes After His $238M Penthouse Is Used in ‘Tax the Rich’ Video
Hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought his Manhattan penthouse for $238 million in 2019.
A billionaire GOP megadonor is threatening to throw a $6 billion hissy fit because a Democratic mayor was mean to him.
New York City’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has targeted the uber-wealthy with a new tax on homes worth north of $5 million. Hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin’s megapad in Manhattan comfortably meets that threshold. He bought the penthouse in 2019 for $238 million, making it the most expensive home in American history.
But Griffin, who Forbes estimates is worth a cool $50.7 billion, is reportedly rankled that Mamdani stood outside the property and used it as the poster boy for his new “Tax the Rich” scheme.
Mamdani in the video, announcing the tax.
NYC Mayor's Office
“We’ve secured a pied-à-terre tax,” Mamdani said in the video posted April 15, as the camera swings towards the tower that houses Griffin’s property. Pied-à-terre is a fancy word for a residence that isn’t someone’s main home. Griffin’s primary residence is in Miami, Florida.
The tax is an annual fee on luxury properties valued at more than $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city, Mamdani explains in the video. “Like for this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” he adds.
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Griffin responded in a roundabout way in an internal email sent to employees of his company, Citadel, on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal saw the email in which one of Griffin’s top goons suggested that a $6 billion project in Manhattan may now be reconsidered because of Mamdani’s missive.
“We are about to commence the redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, creating 6,000 highly paid construction jobs and supporting the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in mid-town New York,” wrote Gerald Beeson, Citadel’s chief operating officer. “The project—if we move forward—will entail more than $6 billion dollars of spending.”
The home is in Central Park Tower, seen here during construction, rising above 220 Central Park South.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
Given Mamdani’s video, the phrase “if we move forward” appeared to be a clear threat.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has thrown her support behind Mamdani’s tax, especially since it is seen as a potential plug for the city’s budget deficit. This is projected to be as much as $12 billion over the next two years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Griffin was the fifth-largest individual Republican donor during the 2024 presidential election, contributing $100 million to groups affiliated with eventual winner Donald Trump. However, he has not been afraid to criticize the White House. In February, he accused members of the Trump administration of “enriching” their families.
“That calls into question, is the public interest being served?” he said at a conference in Florida, hosted by the Journal.
Beeson, meanwhile, personally slammed Mamdani in the email.
“It is shameful that he used Ken’s name as the example of those who supposedly aren’t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending,” his note said.
Ken Griffin pays a lot of tax in New York City.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
“In doing so, the mayor has once again manifested the ignorance and disdain of the elite political class towards those who have been consistently committed to building one of the greatest cities in the world.”
He noted that Citadel and its partners have provided “$2.3 billion dollars in city and state taxes” and that Griffin has personally given $650 million in charitable gifts to support the city.
Beeson suggested that Citadel and its partners had become “targets for political rhetoric.”
Fellow billionaire investor Bill Ackman rushed to Griffin’s defense on X. “We should be applauding Ken for spending $238 million in NYC, not attacking him for doing so,” he said.
“Ken’s company is a major employer in NYC of very high-paying jobs which drive a considerable amount of our tax base. We wouldn’t want him to move even more employees to Miami.”
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