Photo by Mike Groll, Office of Governor Kathy Hochul via Flickr
New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2025 State of the State address – where she laid out her vision for the coming year – gave more of an impression of a campaign rally than a policy address. The show began with marching band renditions of both “Eye of the Tiger” and “Gonna Fly Now” from the Rocky film franchise, several more music musical numbers, short videos, a poetry recital, and performances by the State Police Color Guard and the New York Liberty’s Timeless Torches dance squad. When Hochul finally took the stage after 45 minutes of opening ceremony, walking out to the 2003 Christina Aguilera hit “Fighter”, a clear theme had emerged. Over the course of her speech Hochul used the words “fight” or “fighting” 25 times, and the entire phrase “your family is my fight” three times. The state’s website for the event prominently featured the slogan “Fighting for Your Family” and a quote attributed to Hochul promising to “fight day in and day out to make New York safer, healthier, cleaner, more affordable.” In short, “Fighting” was the prevailing motif for the day and it seems Hochul intends to make it her theme through her governorship of New York during the next Trump administration.
But in her four years as Governor, Hochul has done more to fight for Trump’s policies and his supporters, primarily aligning herself with corporations and the ultra-rich. Hochul has rejected out-of-hand popular proposals to increase taxes on the richest New Yorkers, including the state’s 139 billionaires. She has repeatedly delayed efforts to implement New York’s nation-leading climate change mitigation law, and sought to roll back criminal justice reforms to the cash bail and discovery systems. All of which feel less like prioritizing New York families and more for the right-wing corporate agenda.
For this, Hochul has been richly rewarded by the ultra-rich and corporate interests. As we have previously reported, Hochul has raised millions of dollars from dozens of billionaires and their family members.
Despite her role as the Democratic Governor of a blue state and a significant figure in the national Democratic Party, Hochul’s donor network includes numerous billionaire donors to the Republican Party – including GOP mega-donor Ken Langone, hedge fund manager, friend, and advisor to Donald Trump John Paulson, and petrochemical billionaire Len Blavatnik – who have given Hochul at least $1.1 million since she assumed the Governor’s office in 2021. The amount Hochul has taken from wealthy GOP donors surely reaches far higher if including donations given by donors whose wealth “merely” reaches the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
It’s clear from Hochul’s campaign filings that super-rich Republican donors do not see any major conflict between Hochul’s priorities and those of the Republican Party and that their wealth can easily influence New York’s Governor. As billionaire Trump and Hochul donor John Catsimatidis told the New York Times at a Hochul fundraiser in 2021: “You know why people do fund-raisers? When they call, they want their phone calls returned.”
None of this bodes well at a time when the Trump administration and GOP Congress may seek to cut as much as $86 billion of federal funds that New York relies on for critical public programs such as Medicaid. New Yorkers are already facing a historic affordability crisis, and are demanding that lawmakers invest in public goods like housing, education, and the state’s response to climate change. In the upcoming NYS budget negotiations, Hochul will be forced to choose which families she is fighting for: billionaire political donors or working people?
John Catsimatidis & family
John Catsimatidis is the billionaire chairman and CEO of the New York City grocery chain Gristedes and the fossil fuel corporation United Refining Company, as well as the owner of the conservative talk radio station WABC, with a net worth of $4.5 billion as estimated by Forbes.
At a high-priced Hochul fundraiser he attended in 2021, Catsimatidis told the New York Times: “You know why people do fund-raisers? When they call, they want their phone calls returned.”
Catsimatidis is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and a frequent Republican Party candidate for Mayor of New York City himself. Catsimatidis, his wife Margo, and their daughter Andrea gave at least $2.2 million dollars to Donald Trump’s political committees, including Trump’s campaign committee, joint fundraising committee, and inauguration committee.
John Catsimatidis is also a big fan of Governor Hochul, donating at least $112,300 to her campaign. Hochul also enjoyed a place of honor at Catsimatidis’s 75th birthday bash in 2023, sitting next to the billionaire and his wife at a celebration at the WABC headquarters. Margo Catsimatidis has donated at least $57,700 to Hochul. In total, the Catsimatidis family donated a total of at least $170,000 since Hochul assumed the governor’s office.
Len Blavatnik & family
Billionaire investor Leonard Blavatnik and several family members have donated at least $156,700 to Hochul’s campaigns since 2021. Blavatnik himself has given the most – at least $102,700 – and his spouse, Emily, and two sons, Alex and Val, have given at least $18,000 apiece since 2021.
Blavatnik became a billionaire investing in formerly state-owned assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union, primarily natural resources. His investment firm Access Industries’ holdings include companies in the oil and petrochemical, entertainment, real estate, and technology sectors. These investments include major stakes in LyondelBassell, a petrochemical company spun off from Shell, fossil fuel electric generator Calpine, and the record label Warner Music Group. Forbes estimates Blavatnik’s net worth as $27.6 billion.
Blavatnik is a major donor to politicians of both major parties. In addition to Hochul, he donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s first inaugural committee in 2017. He has also donated to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Steven A. Cohen & family
Steven A. Cohen, who Forbes estimates to be worth $21.3 billion, founded the hedge fund Point72 Management and owns the New York Mets major league baseball team. Cohen’s former hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors, was at the center of an insider trading scandal which resulted in the firm paying $1.8 billion in fines and converting into a family office, managing only Cohen and his family’s money.
Cohen is currently seeking a license to build a casino in Queens near Citi Field, where the New York Mets play.
In 2017, Cohen gave $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration committee. Since 2021, he has given at least $87,035 to Hochul, and his wife Alexandra has given $69,700 for a total of at least $156,735.
Cohen is also a donor to Republican Party candidates and committees. In recent years he has given to Texas Senator John Cornyn, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Congressional Leadership Fund, and the Senate Leadership Fund.
Stanley Druckenmiller & family
Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, worth $6.9 billion according to Forbes, is a hedge fund manager who leads the Duquesne Family Office.
In 2023, Druckenmiller gave $1.5 million to the Koch Brothers-affiliated Super PAC Americans for Prosperity Action, which spent heavily in support of Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican primary, Bernie Moreno for one of Ohio’s U.S. Senate seats, and Dave McCormick for the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat. The Super PAC also spent over $10 million opposing Donald Trump in the Republican primary and $9.4 million opposing Joe Biden in the Presidential election.
Druckenmiller and his family have given at least $141,700 to Kathy Hochul since 2021. Stanley Druckenmiller gave Hochul $18,000 in May 2024, and his daughter and son-in-law each gave Hochul $18,000 in July. Stanley’s wife, Fiona Druckenmiller, donated at least $87,700 from 2021 through 2023.
Stephen Ross & family
Stephen Ross is a billionaire real estate investor worth $11.4 billion according to Forbes. Ross’s firm, Related Companies, is a powerful player in the New York City real estate industry, and received nearly $6 billion in subsidies from New York State and New York City for its Hudson Yards in Manhattan, which has been called “the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States.” Ross’s other holdings include a majority stake in the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise and the Equinox and SoulCycle gym chains.
Ross is also the former chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York, a powerful lobbying organization for New York landlords that exerts electoral influence across the state. In our 2022 report “Pay-to-Play”, about REBNY and other New York real estate lobbying groups’ political influence operations, we reported that REBNY’s board members and PACs had given Hochul $1.3 million.
Ross drew criticism, and his businesses saw boycotts after he hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump at his Hamptons mansion that raised millions for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Ross and his daughter Jennifer each donated $69,700 to Hochul in 2021, shortly before her first election for the governor’s office.
Paul Tudor Jones II & family
We profiled billionaire hedge fund manager and major fossil fuel investor Paul Tudor Jones II, worth $8.1 billion, in our 2022 report “Crooked Kathy’s Dirty Donors.” He and his wife, Sonia Jones, have given Hochul a combined $80,000 since 2021.
Jones is a major backer of charter schools in New York State. Until July 2018, he was a member of the charter school advocacy group StudentsFirst NY board of directors, along with another hedge fund billionaire Hochul donor, Daniel Loeb. Jones and his wife have poured at least $1.3 million into pro-charter school PACs and Super PACs in New York, including $860,000 to New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, $250,000 to the New Yorkers for Putting Students First Independent Committee (a Super PAC), $125,000 to New Yorkers for Putting Students First PAC, and $75,000 to the Coalition For Public Charter Schools PAC. New Yorkers for Putting Students First PAC has reported contributing $50,000 to Hochul’s campaigns since 2021.
In addition to funding the charter school movement, Jones is a major donor to Republican Party candidates and PACs, including PACs supporting recently-elected Pennsylvania Senator David McCormick, Florida governor and former Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Jeremy Jacobs & family
Concessions and gambling billionaire Jeremy Jacobs and six family members gave a combined $72,000 to Governor Hochul’s campaign committee on January 11, 2025, the last day of the filing period. The Jacobs family, whose net worth totals $4.6 billion according to Forbes, are the owners of Delaware North Companies, which operates concessions at major sports stadiums across the country and casinos in New York State, as well as the Boston Bruins NHL franchise.
Hochul and her family have enjoyed a close relationship with the Jacobses. In 2016, after then-Lieutenant Governor Hochul’s husband resigned as a federal prosecutor, he was hired as the general counsel of Delaware North Corporation, where he reported earning as much as $5.35 million until he left that position for a job at the elite Wall Street law firm Davis Polk in August 2023. In 2023, William Hochul reported his highest compensation ever from Delaware North – between $1.45 million and $1.55 million – despite leaving the company midway through the year.
William Hochul’s position at Delaware North represented a major conflict of interest, which grew as Kathy Hochul assumed the Governor’s office. Delaware North has several public contracts in New York, and its casino business is in direct competition with the Seneca Nation, which Hochul strong-armed for money to build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills and with whom Hochul has still not negotiated a new gambling compact after the previous compact expired at the end of 2023.
The Jacobs family is a major political donor in New York State and at the federal level. In 2016, the family gave at least $165,000 to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and transition committee through personal donations and corporate entities under their control. The Jacobses also held a $5,000-a-head fundraiser for Trump’s transition at their downtown Buffalo headquarters in early 2017. Trump later appointed Jeremy Jacobs to the Made in America Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee.
John Paulson & family
John Paulson is the founder of the hedge fund Paulson & Co., where he made billions of dollars on the foreclosure crisis, EpiPen price hike, and vulture investments in Puerto Rican debt. Forbes estimates Paulson’s net worth at $3.8 billion.
Paulson is particularly close to President-elect Donald Trump. In addition to raising millions for Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns, Paulson has served as an economic advisor to Trump since before Trump’s first term began. In 2024, Paulson was rumored to be a contender for Secretary of the Treasury, though he withdrew from consideration, citing his “complex financial arrangements”, but saying he intended to “remain actively involved with the President’s economic team.”
John Paulson donated $50,000 to Governor Hochul in 2021 when she first took office and his wife Jenny donated $15,000 to Hochul in 2022.
Nelson Peltz
Nelson Peltz, the billionaire CEO of the hedge fund Trian Partners, is worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. Peltz was the longtime chairman of the Wendy’s fast food chain, where he refused to join the Fair Food Program to ensure better wages and safe working conditions for farmworkers. Peltz recently directed unsuccessful hostile takeover campaigns targeting Procter & Gamble and the Walt Disney Corporation.
Peltz has repeatedly flip-flopped on his support for Donald Trump. He donated to Trump’s campaign and hosted a high-priced fundraiser for Trump in 2020, but apologized for voting for him after the January 6 insurrection. By early 2024, though Peltz donated to Tim Scott’s Republican primary campaign, Peltz announced that he would reluctantly vote for Trump again. In November 2024, Peltz bragged to CNBC that he had played “matchmaker” between Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Since 2021, Peltz has donated $65,000 to Governor Kathy Hochul.
Daniel Loeb & family
Daniel Loeb, the billionaire manager of the hedge fund Third Point, and his wife Margaret Munzer Loeb have given a combined $60,000 to Kathy Hochul since 2021. According to Forbes, Loeb has a net worth of $3.2 billion.
Like Paul Tudor Jones II, Loeb is a major backer of charter schools in New York. Loeb is the former chairman of Success Academies, a New York City charter school network, and a former board member of StudentsFirst NY, the charter school advocacy group with close ties to the Success Academy network. Loeb and his wife have contributed millions of dollars to charter school political activism in New York. Together, they have given more than $5.3 million to the New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany Super PAC, $600,000 to the Great Public Schools PAC, $575,000 to the New Yorkers for Putting Students First PAC, $140,000 to the New Yorkers for Putting Students First Super PAC, and $5,000 to Democrats for Education Reform New York. New Yorkers for Putting Students First has given Hochul $50,000 since 2021 and Democrats for Education Reform contributed to Hochul before she became governor.
In his crusade against teacher unions, Loeb has repeatedly used inflammatory language, at one point posting on Facebook that teacher unions had “done more to perpetuate poverty and discrimination against people of color than the KKK” and at another time saying that New York Senate Majority Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ support for unions did “more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood.”
Loeb is also a major supporter of Republican politicians. He has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the New York Senate Republican Campaign Committee, and at the federal level, he has given millions to Republican Super PACs like the American Unity PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, and the Senate Leadership Fund in recent years.
Ken Langone & family
Ken Langone is a billionaire financier with a Forbes estimated net worth of $9.1 billion.
A major Republican Party donor, in the 2024 election cycle alone, Langone poured millions of dollars into Super PACs backing Nikki Haley, David McCormick, and the Senate Republican caucus, among other recipients.
Langone is an outspoken opponent of increased taxes on the wealthy, and in 2014, he was forced to apologize after saying that proposals to tax the rich were “what Hitler was saying in Germany.”
In 2024, after Hochul managed to keep higher taxes on the super-rich out of the state budget, Langone and his wife, Elaine, each donated $18,000 to Hochul’s campaign committee.