Two of the largest donors to a super PAC supporting New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani previously worked at AppLovin, a Palo Alto mobile-ad tech company that has been the subject of critical reports by short-selling firms alleging connections to China and problematic business practices.
Campaign finance records show Omer Hasan, listed on LinkedIn as a former vice president of operations at AppLovin who stepped down in February, gave $250,000 on Sept. 5 to New Yorkers for Lower Costs. Mohammad Javed, identified as AppLovin’s former director of engineering who left the company in 2021, donated $251,500 to the same super PAC and separately contributed $2,100 to Mamdani’s campaign committee. Neither Hasan nor Javed have been accused of wrongdoing, and filings with the New York City Campaign Finance Board indicate Hasan listed himself as unemployed while Javed listed himself as chief executive of a company called Showcase Commerce when the donations were made.
AppLovin has faced a series of public allegations from short sellers and research firms. Culper Research issued a February report accusing the company of using backdoor app installations that mislead users into downloading software the firm described as malicious, and in June the same firm issued a report calling AppLovin both a poor investment and a national security risk, saying a Chinese national, Hao Tang, controls at least 9.8% of the company. Culper’s report included broader allegations about ties to the Chinese Communist Party and other illicit activity. Other short sellers, including Muddy Waters and Fuzzy Panda Research, have published critical analyses of AppLovin’s business model and data practices.
AppLovin and the donors did not respond to requests for comment through the publication’s contact points. In an April interview, AppLovin Chief Executive Adam Foroughi denied operational ties to China and noted the company’s global investor base, saying, “I don’t know any [investors] that make up a material part of our cap table. Everyone’s small. I am the largest shareholder in the business — U.S. citizen.”
New Yorkers for Lower Costs, which backs Mamdani, had raised nearly $2.4 million as of Friday, according to campaign filings. Other large contributors to the PAC include Liz Simons, the daughter of the late hedge-fund manager Jim Simons, who gave $250,000; the Unity & Justice Fund, the political arm of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which gave $100,000; the campaign committee for Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), which gave $25,000; and individual supporters such as Cynthia Nixon ($5,000) and Jane Fonda ($1,000).
Mamdani’s campaign directed questions about the donations to the super PAC, which operates independently of the campaign. Howie Stanger, the PAC’s treasurer and founder of the Los Angeles-based political consulting firm Pocketbook Strategies, did not respond to inquiries seeking comment.
AppLovin’s profile has drawn attention partly because the company has been reported to be pursuing assets connected to the former China-based operations of TikTok. The combination of high-dollar political donations from former employees and the company’s prominence in mobile advertising has prompted reporting that highlights potential intersections of campaign finance and national security concerns, though the allegations against AppLovin come from short-selling research and have not been established by government authorities.
Political finance experts note that super PACs often draw large donations from individuals with corporate backgrounds and that contributions to independent expenditure groups do not necessarily reflect a candidate’s direct policy positions or affiliations. The presence of donors with ties to companies under scrutiny can nevertheless become a point of public interest in high-profile races, particularly one as closely watched as the New York City mayoral campaign.
The reporting on AppLovin and the donor connections adds to the broader debate about political donations, corporate influence, and the vetting of major contributors in municipal races. Until now, neither federal investigators nor regulators have announced findings that corroborate the short sellers’ allegations, and the donors and company have not provided additional public documentation to resolve the questions raised in the reports.
The developments come as Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, seeks to broaden his coalition in a crowded contest. Fundraising from both individual donors and outside groups will continue to play a central role in shaping the final stages of the mayoral race, while scrutiny of donor backgrounds and corporate ties is likely to persist among opponents and watchdogs.