Kevin O'Leary has found a new sparring partner in 2026, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the 35-year-old Democratic socialist who took office in January and has spent his first months proposing a 9.5 percent property tax hike, a rent freeze on one million stabilized apartments, 30 percent grocery discounts at five city-backed stores and a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes worth more than $5 million.
O'Leary's position: he loves it, because he lives in Miami Beach.
"What he is proposing is beyond insane, but I love it," O'Leary said on CNN. "Everybody from New York and New Jersey and Massachusetts is moving into my neighborhood. I'm pissed off, and this guy's just doing more of it."
He called Mamdani the "Real Estate Agent of the Year" for driving wealthy New Yorkers to Florida with every new proposal.
He has not let up since. When Mamdani announced the grocery discount plan, O'Leary said grocery margins run at 2-3 percent pre-tax and a 30 percent discount will guarantee stores lose money on every sale.
"Who will pay for those losses?" He also acknowledged something more complicated about his opponent: on X he called Mamdani "a genius at social media" and said his provocative proposals generate millions of views without spending a dime on traditional advertising.
Mark Cuban said the same thing. Mamdani has not responded to O'Leary directly.