Big Tech workers, including from Google and Meta, were among the biggest group of donors to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign – creating a fresh headache for companies in the Big Apple that could feel the brunt of the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist’s policies, The Post has learned.
The 33-year-old upstart has spooked New York business and tech leaders – many of whom fear that his vow to raise taxes on the wealthy and past calls to defund the police will spark a mass exodus similar to what San Francisco experienced under progressive leaders in recent years.
However, their underlings have thrown their financial support behind the front-runner for City Hall.
Rank-and-file Google employees donated nearly $40,500 to Mamdani’s campaign through July 11 – more than any other company or institution, according to NYC campaign finance data reviewed by The Post.
Meta workers chipped in more than $10,500, ranking seventh on the list, followed by Amazon employees, who donated nearly $9,000.
Campaign funds also flowed in from employees at New York City mainstays like tech and media firm Bloomberg ($8,816), Spotify ($7,415), Block ($6,265), Squarespace ($3,957) and MongoDB ($3,900), the data showed.
Outside of the tech sector, Mamdani received significant support from workers at NY-based colleges and city agencies. The Columbia University system ranked second overall with nearly $33,000 in donations, followed by the NYC Department of Education ($26,214), New York University system ($24,331) and CUNY system ($18,336), the data showed.
New York City’s campaign finance regulations require donors to disclose their employer if their contributions exceed more than $100. The stats do not include donors who listed alternate designations, such as being unemployed, self-employed or retired.
Overall, Mamdani raised $816,014 from roughly 10,500 donors from June 25 through July 11, with more than $350,000 of that cash coming from outside New York, records show.
Representatives for Google and Meta declined to comment. Amazon and the Mamdani campaign did not return requests for comment.
John Borthwick, a famed tech investor and CEO of NY-based Betaworks, said the donations from tech workers “doesn’t surprise me at all” because “young people in particular want change.”
Mamdani, who handily beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, has vowed to lower the cost of living through policy proposals that include free public buses, a freeze on regulated rents, universal childcare starting at six weeks old and a pilot program for city-run grocery stores.
Crtics say his plans could cause chaos in the housing market, among other unwanted side effects — including businesses running for the exits.
Tech giants are particularly focused on the quality-of-life impacts of Mamdani’s policies on issues like public safety, housing and education because those are key to making the city an attractive destination.
Companies left San Francisco in droves due to rampant crime and homelessness, which some critics attributed to “woke” policies adopted by city leadership.
Drew Oetting, the president of tech-focused venture firm 8VC, described San Francisco in 2022 as “probably the worst run city in the United States,” while Elon Musk quipped in 2023 that the city looked “post-apocalyptic.”
“What we saw when tech companies fled San Francisco – that was not because of tech policy,” said Julie Samuels, the President and CEO of the influential industry group Tech:NYC.
“That was because of what was going on in San Francisco.”
Insiders say companies are struggling to balance the need to voice real concerns about the impact a Mamdani administration would have on their businesses against the risk of alienating progressive workers who appear to be broadly supportive of him.
Companies like Google – which last year fired more than two dozen far-left employees who staged a sit-in protest at its New York City office over its cloud-computing contracts with Israel – could face further disruptions if they are seen as overly critical of Mamdani, who has made anti-Israel remarks.
But workplace drama is just one concern at a time when tech firms are spending billions of dollars to lure the best possible talent as they race to develop advanced artificial intelligence and other burgeoning products.
“Tech companies historically do a really great job of, frankly, catering to their employees,” Samuels said. “A lot of tech leaders are not wanting to alienate themselves from their employee base.”
Some of New York’s tech and business leaders have publicly struck a cautiously optimistic tone about Mamdani’s candidacy. Last month, Partnership for New York City hosted a pair of summits with the Queens Assemblyman – one aimed at executives across various industries and one specifically focused on the outlook for tech.
While The Partnership and Tech:NYC described the latter meeting as “lively and productive,” other business leaders have been far less accommodating.
Mamdani’s approach to artificial intelligence is a “key concern” for Borthwick, who noted that the upstart has yet to articulate a vision on how New York City should leverage a technology that carries major potential but also threatens to cause significant upheaval in the white-collar workforce.
“This technology is going to transform the city and he isn’t thinking or ready for it,” said Borthwick, who previously told The Post that a Mamdani mayorship would be “disastrous for the city.”
Mamdani has vowed to regulate the industry, warning that AI could “harm workers, replicate biases, and weaken vital services if done irresponsibly.”
“We must ultimately create checks to ensure that technological tools are being deployed responsibly to deliver effective services,” Mamdani told Crain’s New York. “As mayor, I would work with unions and the City Council to pass legislation to appropriately regulate AI.”
Mamdani has tried to take the edge off his more radical stances – including publicly backing off his past support for defunding the police.
At the same time, he has rankled some executives over his refusal to outwardly “condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” which is widely seen as antisemitic.
Local tech leaders are hoping that Mamdani – or whoever ultimately wins the mayoral race – will take a more open-minded approach to AI’s potential benefits while also preparing for its risks, according to Samuels.
“I absolutely would hope that the next mayor would be open to experimentation, would be open to using these modern tools to make New York work better,” said Samuels. “If our elected officials come in only worrying about the negative first, I don’t think we’ll ever see real change in the way that the city uses technology.”
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