Citadel's Ken Griffin Says He Will Shift More Jobs to Miami After Clash With NYC Mayor Mamdani Over Luxury Tax Proposal

President Trump urged New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to cherish billionaires like Ken Griffin after the Citadel CEO threatened to shift more jobs to Miami. "When you lose people like that, it's sort of not recoverable," Trump told WABC radio host Sid Rosenberg. "They're going to be there for 30 years.

Trump said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani should bring billionaires to the office, meet them, have dinner with them, convince them not to leave, make their life great, and help them with their building and project. You got to meet them.

He added that losing Ken Griffin would be a big loss for New York. Ken Griffin warned last week that his hedge fund Citadel would shift more jobs to Miami as a direct consequence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric targeting wealthy New Yorkers.

Griffin said Citadel would double down on Florida rather than expand further in Manhattan because of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s attacks. "We will add far more jobs in Miami over the next decade as an immediate and direct consequence of the mayor’s poor decision here with respect to his posting of that video," Griffin told CNBC at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills on May 5.

The feud began after Mayor Zohran Mamdani filmed a social media video outside Ken Griffin’s $238 million penthouse at 220 Central Park South while touting a proposed pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes worth more than $5 million.

Ken Griffin called Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s video stunt creepy and weird. He described Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s video as frightening after watching it multiple times. Ken Griffin warned that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric risked inflaming political extremism.

He cited the 2024 Midtown murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in relation to the risks of Mayor Mamdani’s rhetoric. 5 billion Park Avenue tower developed alongside Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management. Vornado chairman Steve Roth blasted Mayor Zohran Mamdani for the ugly, unnecessary video stunt which Roth called both irresponsible and dangerous.

The controversy has rattled business leaders across New York City. Apollo Global Management is weighing a major expansion in either Florida or Texas amid fears that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tax the rich agenda is accelerating an exodus of finance jobs from New York.

New York Post reported that Trump’s comments came after Griffin’s public statements at the May 5 conference and the earlier video posting by the mayor.

5 billion Park Avenue tower had been viewed as a major commitment to Manhattan before the current dispute.