Benzinga - O'Shares Investment Advisors chairman and renowned "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary says that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D- N.Y.) opposition to Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) building a regional headquarters in New York City has cost the city thousands of jobs.
During an interview with CNN, O'Leary said that the blue states in the U.S. are "uninvestable" thanks to regulations enacted by politicians.
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary claims New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and California are "uninvestable" https://t.co/HyuU3AgJLM pic.twitter.com/XkhqTmqvnwTalking about pushback from elected officials, particularly about AOC, O'Leary said, "She is great at killing jobs. She kills jobs by the thousands. Where did Amazon take their jobs? They took them away from her. She threatened to sue them if they created jobs."— CNN (@CNN) March 3, 2023
Fox News quoted CEO of Job Creators Network Alfredo Ortiz saying in 2020 that AOC's campaign has cost the city "25,000 good-paying jobs" and that she "sent a message to job creators everywhere that they were no longer welcome in her city."
According to the report, he and other investors are choosing to refrain from investing in or growing their businesses in blue states like New York or California because of terrible business environments.
Also Read: Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary Has Some Advice For Retail Employees, But It's Not Going Over Well
"I don't put companies here in New York anymore, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or California. Those states are uninvestable. The policy here is insane. The taxes are too high. We put them in Fargo, North Dakota, because 40% of the people work elsewhere, including Boston," he said.
"I had a project in Upstate New York behind the grid in Niagara Falls for electricity – a global data center we were building. Eventually, it got so bad with the politicians in the local region and the state policy, we moved it to Norway and all the jobs," O'Leary added.
Regarding the current state of the economy and the latest U.S. jobless numbers, O'Leary said that the numbers, combined with a 4% unemployment rate, make for "an extraordinary economy" in which "we're hiring every day, and we're competing every day."
Meanwhile, AOC is under the scrutiny of the House Ethics Committee for being slow to reimburse vendors for clothing and other expenses associated with her 2021 Met Gala participation.
Photo: Shutterstock
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.