Jeff Bezos to Mamdani: ‘Villain strategy’ won’t work; Ken Griffin isn’t hurting New York

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has criticised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for targeting Citadel CEO Ken Griffin in a viral Tax Day video promoting proposed pied-à-terre tax. Speaking with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bezos said: “When you don’t know how to solve a problem, create a villain, blame them.

But it won’t solve the problem. The only thing that will solve the problem is skill.” Griffin had called the video “creepy” and threatened to cancel a $6 billion Midtown development project, prompting mediation by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Jeff Bezos is supporting the tax but rejecting the targeting

Bezos, who owns a residence in New York City and would himself be subject to the proposed tax, did not oppose the policy itself. He called a pied-à-terre tax “a fine thing for New York to do,” likening it to hotel taxes that fall on out-of-towners.

But he drew a clear line against Mamdani’s tactic of filming outside Griffin’s $238 million penthouse. “Ken Griffin isn’t a villain. He hasn’t hurt anybody. He’s not hurting New York.

In fact, quite the opposite,” Bezos said.

Jeff Bezos redirects the argument

While distancing himself from the personal feud, Bezos shifted the conversation toward government inefficiency. “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, suggesting fiscal discipline rather than higher taxes is the real solution.

Jeff Bezos criticised Zohran Mamdani’s economic policies

This is not the first time that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has criticised New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Recently, Bezos criticised New York City’s public school spending and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s economic policies. He argued that increased funding alone does not solve the underlying issues.

During an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bezos compared the city’s education system with Amazon’s operations, saying inefficiencies in public administration would not be tolerated in business.

“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 followed up by clashing with Zohran Mamdani over billionaire taxes, arguing that raising taxes on the wealthy would not materially improve life for working-class residents. Mamdani countered: “I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ.”