Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is throwing his support behind Mayor Eric Adams’ uphill independent reelection effort and urging former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to step aside so Hizzoner can have a better shot at besting Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Ackman, who donated $500,000 to Cuomo’s failed Democratic primary campaign, revealed in a lengthy Wednesday night social media post that he believes the current mayor is best positioned to overcome Mamdani — a democratic socialist Assembly member whom Ackman seems desperate to stop.
Both Adams and Cuomo hold independent ballot lines in the general election. Adams’ campaign is full steam ahead, and Cuomo is still weighing whether to actively campaign after getting trounced in the primary.
“I met yesterday with @NYCMayor Eric Adams and @andrewcuomo to discuss the upcoming election, and I spent an hour or so with each of them,” Ackman wrote in his post. “In short, my takeaway is that Adams can win the upcoming election and that the governor should step aside to maximize Adams’ probability of success.”
Ackman added that while he still holds Cuomo — who is 67 — in “high regard,” it was “abundantly clear in his body language, his subdued energy and his proposals to beat Mamdani, that he is not up for the fight.”
In stark contrast, he praised Adams as “ready to go to battle, guns blazing with enormous energy.”
“Adams is a great campaigner who can lead the grassroots effort needed to defeat Mamdani, and as mayor, he has a great platform to tell his story,” Ackman added.
Although Ackman acknowledged that Adams’ scandal-scarred first term has “not been without flaws,” he said it has been “strong” overall.
Ackman’s post marks yet another blow to Cuomo’s hopes of mounting a serious general election challenge in a race that includes Mamdani, Adams, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and independent attorney Jim Walden. It comes after the Rev. Al Sharpton, a powerful political leader in the city’s Black communities, also urged Cuomo to step back, so Mamdani and Adams can duke it out.
In response, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said, “Everyone is entitled to their own political opinion. We understand President Trump supports Eric Adams and does not believe socialism is the answer.”
Azzopardi was referencing Adams’ cozy relationship with Trump, whose Justice Department dismissed the mayor’s federal corruption case earlier this year in what many believe was a quid pro quo for his cooperation on immigration enforcement. Ackman had endorsed Trump’s re-election last year.
“Most New Yorkers are not Trumpers, and most New Yorkers are not socialists — the majority lies in the middle,” Azzopardi said. “We will continue to assess the current situation in the best interest of the people of the City of New York.”
The Cuomo spokesperson also pointed to a survey conducted by the conservative polling firm American Pulse Research & Polling that has Cuomo in second place at 29%, while Mamdani leads at 35%. It also shows Cuomo well ahead of Adams, who is in last place at 14%.
Scaramucci stands by Cuomo
However, businessman Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as a spokesperson in the first Trump administration, posted on X that he is sticking by Cuomo in the general election. Scaramucci was also one of Cuomo’s many financial backers in the primary.
“I’ve known Andrew for a long time and there is absolutely no one with more fire in their belly or who is stronger in the ring than @andrewcuomo,” Scaramucci said.
Meanwhile, Cuomo has also bled much of the organized labor support that saw him through the primary.
Many of the city’s major labor unions that previously stood behind Cuomo, including 32BJ SEIU and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, have quickly abandoned him for Mamdani in light of the Assembly member’s resounding primary victory.
