By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investor Whitney Tilson, who often pushed corporations to perform better for shareholders and employees while running a New York-based hedge fund, has entered the race to replace New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The 58-year-old Democrat said the city needs “a businessperson not a career politician” to shake up city government and pledges to cut violent crime in half, rein in spending, address the high cost of living and improve public schools.
Tilson, who ran a hedge fund for 18 years and now publishes investment newsletters at Stansberry’s Investment Advisory, is the latest to enter a crowded field of candidates vying to unseat Eric Adams after the mayor was charged with bribery and fraud.
“There is no clear favorite and there is no one in my lane in terms of someone who has a business background,” Tilson, who earned a degree from Harvard Business School, told Reuters. The election is scheduled for November 2025 and a primary will be held in June.
Tilson’s hedge fund Kase Capital Management made bets on companies ranging from Netflix, Apple and Amazon to Lumber Liquidators.
While calling his campaign “audacious,” Tilson said he wants to be part of a solution to make Democrats electable again after Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the presidential race.
Even though he worked on Wall Street, Tilson stressed he is not wealthy enough to self finance his mayoral run and will take matching funds. He will not ask billionaire friends, including investor Bill Ackman, who was a groomsman in his wedding, to write big checks and rely instead on small donations, he said.
City comptroller Brad Lander, former city comptroller Scott Stringer and former federal prosecutor Jim Walden are among the candidates running.
Eight years ago when Trump was first elected, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren railed against Tilson, calling him part of the billionaire class that is hurting the country and would profit from Trump’s economic policies. Tilson said then and again on Tuesday that he is nowhere close to having the net worth of a billionaire, supports regulation for the financial industry and has donated to Democrats, including Warren.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
