Billionaire financier Steven A. Cohen makes a pitch for the Mets
"It has always been a dream of mine to be a majority owner of a Major League Baseball franchise," financier Steven A. Cohen, seen here in 2012, wrote in a letter to shareholders. Credit: Bloomberg / Scott Eells
Billionaire financier Steven A. Cohen, whose shoulder injury at age 13 forced him to stop pitching, told shareholders in his hedge fund that he is following a longtime "dream" in positioning himself to become the Mets' majority owner.
Cohen, originally from Great Neck, sent a letter to shareholders of his Point72 Asset Management hedge fund on Wednesday afternoon acknowledging that he is hammering out a deal with the Wilpon family to take over as majority owner.
"I've been going to Mets games since I was a kid, when they played in the Polo Grounds," the letter said. "It has always been a dream of mine to be a majority owner of a Major League Baseball franchise."
Fred Wilpon would remain in his role as the Mets' controlling executive for five years, after which Cohen would take the reins "if this deal goes through," the letter said.
Cohen acquired an 8% ownership in the Mets in 2012 when the Wilpons sought minority investors to help them recover from losses suffered in the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme engineered by Bernard Madoff.
In the letter, Cohen said his stake in the Mets would continue to be managed by his family office, Cohen Private Ventures, and that his role at Point72 "will not change."
Cohen said that he would continue to pursue "my first passion ... investing."
Cohen was a Little Leaguer in Great Neck when an injury to his shoulder forced him to stop pitching, a source said.
Cohen is listed at No. 101 on Forbes' 2019 list of the world's richest people with an estimated $12.9 billion.
The resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, faced scrutiny when regulators levied a $1.8 billion fine and in 2016 forced the closure of his hedge fund S.A.C. Capital Advisors LLP, which pleaded guilty to insider trading charges.
Cohen was not charged with insider trading, but he was barred from managing clients' money for two years.
Point72 lists more than 1,400 employees and about $14.6 billion in assets under management as of Oct. 1.
The hedge fund's website said that it uses fundamental investing strategies as well as "highly automated trading strategies," in which computers carry out trades without human intervention.
His family's charitable arm, the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, has donated to a variety of health-related philanthropies. In one high profile gift on Long Island, the foundation donated $50 million, prompting the former Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park to be renamed the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York.
Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.
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