Google billionaire makes surprising New York exit

Thanks to New York City’s increasingly radical, anti-business policies, another billionaire has now fled the leftist utopia.

According to Bloomberg, late last year Google co-founder Sergey Brin, reportedly the world’s third-richest man, offloaded his stake in an NYC real estate fund for just pennies on the dollar ahead of a decision by NYC officials to impose rent control on landlords.

“Amphitheatre LLC, an entity affiliated with Brin, sold shares in the fund that holds nearly 5,900 [apartment/condo] units back to its manager, A&E Real Estate,” Bloomberg noted.

A representative for A&E Real Estate confirmed this.

“A&E bought out one of our long-term investors, who was willing to accept six cents on the dollar on their original equity investment to divest itself from the New York City multifamily sector,” the rep said.

“[Google’s Sergey Brin] was willing to accept six cents on the dollar on their original equity investment to divest itself from the New York City multifamily sector,”

When you’re willing to take near total loss on your money, you know the future is dark https://t.co/3GnAoKzr3r

— Kenny Burgos (@KennyBurgosNY) June 29, 2026

While the deal may have seemed bad at the time, it now looks to have been the right decision. Last week, NYC’s Rent Guidelines Board approved a two-year rent freeze on behalf of radically left-wing Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Conservatives had already warned beforehand that rent control would lead to an exodus of landlords from the Big Apple.

Speaking of Mamdani, he has been a firm critic of A&E Real Estate. During a Jan. 16 press conference, he announced a $2.1 million settlement with the company over its alleged tenant neglect and harassment, hazardous building conditions, and code violations.

The settlement required A&E to correct more than 4,000 building code violations, pay restitution/civil penalties, and accept injunctions prohibiting further tenant harassment.

“For too many New Yorkers, when they hear the words A&E real estate, they think of mistreatment and neglect, violations and appalling living conditions,” he said during the presser. “Thousands of our neighbors live in rent-stabilized units managed by A&E, and thousands of our neighbors contend with daily misery as a result.”

“For years, A&E has operated with callous disregard for those residing in its properties, racking up over 140,000 total violations, including 35,000 in the last year alone. This is not just a failure to serve those to whom it holds an obligation. It is overt cruelty to tens of thousands of New Yorkers,” he added.

This settlement with A&E Real Estate addresses years of unsafe conditions and tenant harassment, setting a new standard for accountability. As Mayor Zohran Mamdani and incoming HPD Commissioner Dina Levy stress: enforcement matters—and action is underway to protect tenants. pic.twitter.com/0ygzqwtebA

— NYC Housing (@NYCHousing) January 17, 2026

In a statement to Bloomberg, A&E attributed its problems to 2019 legislation that constrained its ability to pay for building repairs.

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) significantly constrained landlords’ ability to raise rents in connection with repairs and improvements in rent-stabilized apartments. It did not outright ban landlords from making or paying for repairs, but it sharply limited the financial mechanisms (rent increases) they could use to recoup those costs.

“The firm has seen operating expenses increase by more than 78% over the last decade, far outpacing rent growth,” according to Bloomberg. “The pandemic then made it harder to collect tenant payments, while borrowing costs and insurance premiums climbed sharply. The firm has faced foreclosure on dozens of apartment buildings and found itself targeted by tenant activists and local housing agency lawyers”

In an additional statement, A&E’s rep called out New York for placing its landlords in a “doom loop.”

“The simple and deeply troubling fact for renters is that institutional capital – both equity investors and lenders – are fleeing New York City’s rent-stabilized apartment sector,” the rep said. “They understand New York is in a doom loop.”

In a separate statement made to the New York Post, the rep spoke further about the doom loop.

“They understand New York is in a doom loop created in large part by the 2019 Albany rent laws, which handcuff owners’ ability to recoup costs for necessary capital repairs and improvements, coupled with rapidly rising operating expenses and a hostile political establishment determined to freeze the rents no matter the real-life implications for residents,” the rep said.

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