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Billionaire Steve Cohen reportedly buying
majority stake in the Mets from Wilpons
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | DEC. 13-19, 2019 41
SPORTS
BY MARK HALLUM
The New York Mets are about
to have a new owner.
Billionaire Steve Cohen has
finished negotiations with Sterling
Partners to increase his
investment in the team by 80
percent, or $2.6 billion, according
to Bloomberg.
Sterling Partners includes
the team’s father-and-son chairman
and COO team, Fred and
Jeff Wilpon, but both of them
aren’t leaving Citi Field for a
while. The deal allows them to
remain in place with the organization
for the next five years,
with Fred Wilpon remaining
“control person” and CEO, and
Jeff Wilpon on board as COO.
“Steve Cohen will continue
as CEO and president of Point72
Asset Management and his
stake in the Mets will continue
to be managed by his family office,
Cohen Private Ventures,” a
statement from the Mets said.
This indicates a shift for billionaire
Cohen from minority
owner to majority.
Neither Mark Herr from
Cohen Private Ventures nor
Harold Kaufman from Sterling
Partners would expand on any
details beyond the joint statement
issued.
Fred Wilpon and his real estate
investment company, Sterling
Equities, partnered with
Nelson Doubleday of Doubleday
Publishing in 1980 to purchase
the Mets from the Payson family,
the team’s original owners,
for a then-record price of $21
million. With changes in management
and a roster revamp,
the Mets captured their second
World Championship in 1986.
The partnership remained
in place until 2002, when Sterling
Equities bought out Doubleday’s
stake and became the
franchise’s sole owner. Over the
next decade, while there weren’t
many wins to be had for the
Mets, Sterling Equities developed
Citi Field, which replaced
Shea Stadium as the Mets’ home
field in 2009, and helped form
the team’s owner broadcasting
network, SportsNet New York.
In 2008, the Wilpons became
mired in the Bernie Madoff investment
scandal, and were sued
by a group of investors. The lawsuit
was eventually settled for
$162 million, though fans questioned
the long-lasting financial
impact it had on the team.
— Additional reporting by
Robert Pozarycki
Photo by Christina Santucci
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