- New York officials have proposed a pied-à-terre tax on non-primary homes worth over $5 million.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani namechecked billionaire Ken Griffin when he announced the levy.
- Griffin would be one of many big-name billionaires affected, from Donald Trump to Jeff Bezos.
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani introduced a new pied-à-terre tax in a video on Wednesday, standing in front of a limestone tower on Central Park South and calling out one of its residents, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, by name.
Griffin is far from the only billionaire who would shoulder such a tax, which Mamdani and New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed earlier this week.
The levy on non-primary homes worth more than $5 million would apply to those who live abroad, in other states, and elsewhere in New York state, as well as to investment properties, and would be in addition to current property taxes.
The state has not said publicly how it would determine a residence's value, whether a home is a primary residence, or how much homeowners would pay. City Hall did not respond to questions about those details. While market value determines the assessed value for one to three-family homes in New York City, condos and co-ops — the vast majority of New York apartments — are assessed by a more complex formula.
The tax, part of Hochul's state budget proposal, would generate an estimated $500 million a year, according to Hochul's and Mamdani's offices.
In the announcement, Mamdani's office mentioned Griffin, who spent $238 million on a Midtown penthouse in 2019, and Russian auto dealer Alexander Varshavsky, who bought a Columbus Circle apartment for $20.5 million in cash.
"This pied-à-terre tax is specifically designed for the richest of the rich," Mamdani said in the video.
Within 24 hours, big-name billionaires and businesspeople attacked the proposal, with critics arguing it could drive investment out of the city.
"Mamdani likes the tag line 'Tax the rich.' Unfortunately, his policies will harm the constituencies he is supposedly trying to help," Bill Ackman wrote on X.
The new tax would apply to 13,000 properties, Hochul's office estimated, and several of the individuals behind those apartments could be hard to identify, having purchased their homes through trusts or LLCs.
Here are eight prominent figures from finance, entertainment, and real estate who would likely be affected by the proposed policy. Their representatives declined or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Jeff Bezos
In 2023, Bezos very publicly decamped to Miami, purchasing several properties on the private island of Indian Creek and leaving at least some of his Seattle homes behind.
He's held onto his New York real estate empire. From 2019 to 2021, he purchased five apartments inside 212 Fifth Avenue, a condo building in Manhattan's Nomad, spending more than $100 million. He had previously purchased four apartments at 25 Central Park West with his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott Bezos, though it's unclear who retained ownership of them in the divorce.
Bezos, the world's third-richest person with a net worth of $269 billion according to Bloomberg, also owns homes in Beverly Hills, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Western Texas, and Hawaii.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé
Jay-Z and Beyoncé, famously from Brooklyn and Houston, respectively, have called California — where they own a Bel-Air mansion and a record-breaking Malibu estate — home for about a decade.
The pair, worth a combined $3.8 billion, according to Forbes, kept their Tribeca loft, where they married in 2008. The apartment has no doubt ballooned in value since Jay-Z purchased it for $6.85 million more than two decades ago.
Steve Cohen
While hedge fund titan Cohen primarily lives on an estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, known as 30 Crown, he also owns another mansion 40 miles south. His 30,000-square-foot home in the West Village, which took years to construct, sits on multiple lots that Cohen purchased for more than $60 million in total in 2012.
Worth $17.4 billion, according to Bloomberg, Cohen has built a portfolio that includes an estate in East Hampton and a home in Delray Beach, Florida.
Michael Dell
Dell, the Texas-based founder of Dell Technologies, broke city records when he purchased a $100 million penthouse in 2014.
His 11,000-square-foot apartment was the first New York City residence to surpass $100 million and is located in the luxury tower One57 on Billionaires' Row, a stretch of Midtown Manhattan known for investment properties. Dell is worth $170 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Ken Griffin
Namechecked in Mamdani's announcement, Griffin owns multiple apartments in New York City. He's better known as a Chicagoan than a New Yorker and made headlines for ditching the Midwestern city for Miami in 2022.
In New York, his $238 million purchase on Central Park South set a nationwide record in 2019. Last year, he dropped another $45 million on a nearby Park Avenue co-op, and he's since doubled down, spending $38 million on the adjoining duplex, The Wall Street Journal reported the same day the pied-a-terre tax was announced.
Griffin, who is worth $48.3 billion according to Bloomberg, also owns homes in London, the Hamptons, Miami, and Palm Beach.
Stephen Ross
An advocate for moving to Florida, real estate mogul Ross made Palm Beach, where he lives in an oceanfront estate known as The Reef, his permanent residence during the pandemic.
While Ross, who is worth $16.5 billion, according to Bloomberg, has since sold many of his New York properties, he still owns at least one apartment in the city: the penthouse in 35 Hudson Yards, which his firm, Related Companies, developed.
Howard Schultz
The former Starbucks chief left Seattle for Miami earlier this year, buying a $44 million penthouse on the water.
Brooklyn-born Schultz, who Forbes estimates is worth $3.5 billion, held onto the $40 million West Village penthouse he purchased in 2017. The apartment, with a wraparound terrace and four bedrooms, is in a top-tier building that boasts a garden, pool, and golf simulator.
Donald Trump
President Donald Trump, who is worth $6.4 billion, according to Forbes, was one of several business titans who criticized the policy, posting on Truth Social that Mamdani is "DESTROYING New York."
Trump, who lives in D.C. and votes in Florida, still owns property in his hometown of New York. Most famously, he has a triplex in the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. The apartment, the subject of yearslong investigation by Letitia James, measures about 11,000 square feet.
