Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary dishes on meeting Zohran Mamdani at the 'Marty Supreme' premiere

Zohran Mamdani has charmed yet another business-world figure.

Kevin O'Leary, the Canadian businessman and venture capitalist best known for his role on "Shark Tank," said that he recently met with the newly inaugurated New York City mayor and was impressed by his election victory.

O'Leary told Semafor's "Mixed Signals" podcast that he met Mamdani at the New York City premiere of "Marty Supreme," in which he plays a starring role, in December.

"Very charismatic guy," O'Leary said of Mamdani. "He came to the opening, and he met with all of us, and I had a chance to talk to him."

The "Shark Tank" star said that he told Mamdani that he doesn't "agree with anything you're proposing" and that he's "not a big fan of communism," but that he has to "respect what you achieved."

"I have never seen social media so effective," O'Leary added. "He cleaned up because he understood how to use each platform the right way."

O'Leary added that he planned to meet with Mamdani soon.

"We're going to talk about policy on housing, where I invest, and you know, just to see," O'Leary said. "I really found him a very pleasant guy. You know, I don't like his policy."

On housing, Mamdani has pledged to "freeze the rent," halting price increases on the city's rent-stabilized units. He has also promised to build more affordable housing.

O'Leary has been critical of Mamdani in the past, including on housing, saying that his policies would deter investment in new buildings.

"You're telling me I have to have frozen rent rates, even going into 3% inflation," O'Leary said on Fox Business in August. "How am I going to be able to raise any money for a new build?"

Spokespeople for Mamdani and O'Leary did not respond to a request for comment on when a meeting may take place.

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