(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Bill Ackman said he’s supporting former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson in the crowded Democratic primary for mayor of New York City.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Ackman, the outspoken head of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, made the announcement Monday in a post on social media platform X, saying Tilson is “pro-business, anti-waste and identity politics, and wants to make NYC great again.”
“We don’t want NYC to become San Francisco or G-d forbid Los Angeles and Whitney can help save us,” Ackman wrote. “He will inspire young super talented people to join his administration.”
Ackman and his wife, Neri Oxman, hosted a fundraiser for Tilson last week.
Ackman didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Tilson, 58, used to run hedge fund Kase Capital Management, and is active in New York philanthropic circles. He sits on the advisory board of Ackman’s Pershing Square Foundation, and serves on the board of the KIPP Academy charter school in the South Bronx.
In November, Tilson announced his plan to challenge Mayor Eric Adams in the June primary election, joining a swelling field of candidates seeking to lead the biggest US city. Other hopefuls include City Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn state Senator Zellnor Myrie, among others.
In the years since his 2021 election, Adams has faced multiple hurdles that have complicated his path to a second term, including the arrival of more than 200,000 migrants seeking asylum, low poll numbers and a multiple-count federal corruption indictment. Adams, who is scheduled to stand trial in April, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ackman didn’t back Adams in the 2021 mayoral race. During the months leading up to the primary that year, he donated to Adams’ rivals Ray McGuire and Andrew Yang, and contributed to an independent PAC backing McGuire’s candidacy.
Over the past year, Ackman has increasingly used his account on X to express his political points of view, including his support for now-former US Representative Dean Phillips’ unsuccessful effort to win the Democratic presidential nomination, and his later support for President-elect Donald Trump. He has also become increasingly vocal in his support for Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Story continues