Additional Coverage:
- Kevin O’Leary calls Zohran Mamdani’s plan ‘beyond insane’ — can’t believe it was considered (marketrealist.com)
“Beyond Insane”: NYC Tax Hike Proposal Sparks Outrage from “Shark Tank” Star Kevin O’Leary
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ambitious plan to significantly raise taxes, particularly on the city’s wealthiest residents, has drawn sharp criticism, most notably from “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary. The proposal, which includes a potential 9.5% hike in property taxes if an income tax increase on the rich fails to secure gubernatorial approval, has been labeled “beyond insane” and “bat poopoo crazy” by O’Leary.
Mamdani’s campaign promise to increase income taxes on the wealthy faces a hurdle: gaining the support of Governor Kathy Hochul. Should that fail, the alternative plan of a substantial property tax increase looms.
This move, Mamdani acknowledges, would undeniably create a financial burden for middle-class New Yorkers. O’Leary, however, takes it a step further, suggesting it would tax them “into oblivion.”
The proposed property tax hike would impact over 3 million residential units and more than 100,000 commercial buildings, with Mamdani indicating it would affect New Yorkers with a median income of $122,000.
O’Leary, who resides in Miami Beach, didn’t mince words about the potential exodus of high-net-worth individuals from New York. “Probably sometime next year, within 12 to 18 months, I will meet him in Miami and give him the real estate agent of the year award,” he quipped.
He added, “I live in Miami Beach. Everybody from New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts is moving into my neighborhood.
I’m pissed off, and this guy’s just doing more of it.”
A fundamental challenge for Mamdani’s plan to tax the wealthy lies in how much of their wealth is structured. Many millionaires and billionaires accrue their fortunes through assets, not just wages.
Capital gains from these assets are typically taxed at lower rates than regular income and are only taxed when the assets are sold. This means that an income tax increase might not significantly impact those whose wealth is primarily tied up in appreciating assets.
This conundrum has led other states, like California, to consider wealth taxes on assets. However, such proposals have seen a migration of high-profile billionaires, including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, reportedly leaving the state.
Interestingly, while some are fleeing California’s tax climate, Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, have recently become New York residents, moving into a co-op on Central Park West. Spielberg’s production house, Amblin Entertainment, also relocated from Hollywood to New York on the same day.
The debate over how to tax the wealthy continues to be a hot-button issue, with New York City’s latest proposals sparking a fiery exchange and raising questions about the future of its tax base.