Hedge fund titan Ken Griffin is preparing to abandon New York City after Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani filmed a disturbing video outside Griffin’s penthouse, calling him out by name while announcing a new luxury property tax. The billionaire employer of 5,000 New Yorkers described the April 15 incident as frightening, especially following the assassination of United Healthcare’s CEO just blocks from his residence.
Mayor Films Outside Billionaire’s Home
Mamdani posted the video on Tax Day, standing directly in front of the building housing Griffin’s penthouse to announce a so-called pied-à-terre tax targeting luxury second homes. The mayor named Griffin specifically and disclosed what the Citadel founder paid for his apartment, creating what Griffin called a dangerous situation for wealthy residents already concerned about their safety in the city.
“This has gotten frightening. The CEO of United Health was killed a few blocks from my house,” Griffin
Griffin told moderators at the Milken Global Conference on Tuesday that watching the video multiple times made it progressively more alarming. He referenced the recent murder of the United Healthcare CEO and warned that anything creating agitation among extremists presents a frightening dynamic for high-profile business leaders. The public targeting by a city official crossed a line from political messaging into personal intimidation.
Griffin’s Massive NYC Contributions Ignored
What Mamdani never mentioned in his propaganda clip is Griffin’s extraordinary generosity toward New York institutions. Griffin and music mogul David Geffen jointly donated 400 million dollars to Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer center in 2023, the largest single donation in the institution’s history. Griffin also contributed 40 million dollars each to the Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Natural History, plus 15 million dollars to the poverty-fighting Robin Hood Foundation.
His total gifts to city institutions approach 600 million dollars, with lifetime charitable contributions exceeding 2.5 billion dollars according to Citadel’s records. Beyond philanthropy, Griffin’s companies employ approximately 5,000 people and he is currently building Midtown’s tallest skyscraper on Park Avenue, a project any competent mayor would celebrate for the jobs and economic activity it generates.
Business Leaders Targeted By Socialist Mayor
The incident reveals the dangerous direction of New York City under socialist leadership. Rather than thanking job creators and philanthropists, Mamdani chose to vilify Griffin and offer him up as a target for redistribution-minded activists. Griffin noted his admiration for President Trump’s resilience after surviving three assassination attempts, suggesting the parallels between political violence and the mayor’s public targeting of wealthy residents. The exodus of businesses and billionaires from increasingly hostile blue cities continues accelerating as leaders abandon pro-growth policies for class warfare tactics.
