NYC Mayor Eric Adams (L) and Dan Loeb, CEO of Third Point LLC.
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Hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb appears to be cozying as much as Recent York City Mayor Eric Adams after pouring $1 million into the political motion committee that helped get him elected, in keeping with people aware of the matter.
Adams and Loeb have held several private discussions since Adams was sworn in earlier this yr, focusing totally on Loeb’s passion project: town’s charter schools, these people explained, asking to not be named to freely discuss Loeb and Adams’ discussions. Loeb has long been one in every of town’s most affluent charter school supporters and served because the past chairman of Success Academy, which operates a network of about 50 schools in Recent York City and boasts higher testing scores on standardized tests than most private and non-private schools.
The election of Adams marked a shift in town’s relationship with charter schools from former Recent York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who favored public schools over the publicly funded but independently run schools. The charter schools have more freedom to set their curriculum and are seen as a free alternative to private and non-private schools.
Adams was invited to Success Academy’s spring gala on April 25, in keeping with people aware of the event. The dinner honored former Mayor Mike Bloomberg who announced plans the week before to lift $50 million for NYC charter schools. Loeb, who still sits on the board, donated $250,000 to the dinner, in keeping with its website.
The contribution allowed Loeb to have VIP-type seating on the event, with a table for 10 people, the location said.
Though Adams’ spokesman, Fabien Levy, said the mayor didn’t attend the event, other people near the mayor imagine Adams received an invitation due to his ties to Loeb.
“The mayor has repeatedly said that he’s willing to work with anyone and everybody to construct a more prosperous city for all Recent Yorkers, but we don’t discuss private conversations,” Levy said.
A spokeswoman for Success Academy said Adams’ was invited due to his critical role in town’s education system.
“He’s the mayor of NYC, and the tutorial success of NYC’s children is of paramount importance,” Ann Powell, a spokeswoman for the charter school network, told CNBC in an email. A spokesman for Loeb declined to comment on the Wall Street executive’s private conversations.
Charter schools are publicly funded by Recent York taxpayers with some funds from the federal government or private foundation grants. In Recent York, charter schools are considered public schools but operate independently from traditional school districts.
The colleges are initially granted a five-year charter either by the SUNY Board of Trustees or the Recent York State Board of Regents. The colleges’ charters could include standards for test performance, graduation rates or other operational requirements.
Critics and supporters of charter schools have sparred over whether those institutions have pulled critical state funding away from traditional public schools.
Adams has indicated that he wants to take care of the statutory cap on charter schools that limits the system to 460 schools across the state, but he also desires to duplicate institutions which have a successful track record, Chalkbeat Recent York, which reports on town’s education system, reported late last yr.
Recent York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023 budget proposal boosted the per-student funding of $16,844 for Big Apple charter schools by 4.7%. The ultimate budget agreement, nonetheless, didn’t lift the statutory cap on the variety of charters allowed across the state.
Loeb’s tenure as chairman of Success Academy’s board in 2017 was marked by controversy after he attacked Recent York state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins in a racially charged Facebook post.
“Meanwhile hypocrites like Stewart-Cousins who pay fealty to powerful union thugs and executives do more damage to people of color than anyone who has ever donned a hood,” Loeb said, invoking the Ku Klux Klan in criticizing Stewart-Cousins, who’s Black, in keeping with The Recent York Times. She has been the state Senate majority leader since 2019.
Loeb later stepped down as chairman and has since apologized for the post.
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He has a track record of donating to candidates on each side of the aisle, making him a potentially wealthy ally for Adams if he runs for reelection in 2025.
Loeb has signaled to allies that he goals to contribute to Recent York state races in the ultimate months of the 2022 election cycle, in keeping with an individual briefed on the matter. And he’s tried to cultivate political alliances across the country and political spectrum.
In March, he donated $250,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund, a brilliant PAC run by allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that goals to elect Republicans to the Senate, in keeping with data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
That very same month, he gave $250,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a brilliant PAC that supports GOP House candidates, and $125,000 to the Democratic Majority for Israel.
