MLB owners and NYC approve sale of the Mets to Steve Cohen

The Mets’ Steve Cohen era has begun.

His purchase of the Mets from the Wilpon and Katz families was approved by MLB on Friday when franchise owners voted to accept Cohen into their club, then was given the OK by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, all but finalizing his takeover of his favorite childhood team.

The sale — which values the Mets at about $2.475 billion, a record for a North American sports franchise — is expected to close within the next 10 days.

"I am humbled that MLB’s owners have approved me to be the next owner of the New York Mets. Owning a team is a great privilege and an awesome responsibility," Cohen said in a statement.

It continued: "My family and I are lifelong Mets fans, so we’re really excited about this. With free agency starting Sunday night we will be working towards a quick close."

When it does become official, Cohen will own 95% of the team, up from his preexisting 8% stake. The Wilpons and Katzes will retain the other 5%.

Cohen, a Great Neck native and longtime hedge-fund boss worth an estimated $14 billion, will be the richest owner in baseball.

"Steve will bring his lifelong passion for the Mets to the stewardship of his hometown team, and he will be joined by highly respected baseball leadership as well," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a news release. "I believe that Steve will work hard to deliver a team in which Mets fan can take pride."

Manfred also said so long to the outgoing owners. Fred Wilpon has owned at least a minority share of the Mets since 1980 and has owned them outright with brother-in-law Saul Katz since 2002.

"I extend my best wishes to Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz and Jeff Wilpon and thank them for their longstanding efforts for the Mets," Manfred said. "In particular, we appreciate Fred’s decades of service to league committees and the governance of the game. "

Mets patriarch Fred Wilpon said in his own statement: "It has been a privilege and honor for our families to have been a part of this great franchise for the past 40 years. … I know that Steve Cohen and his family share the same passion we’ve had for the Mets and for this City."

Already, Cohen is spending some of his money — albeit not on players or baseball-related items just yet.

That includes donating $17.5 million to New York City to fund grants for local small businesses, as well as a plan to "dramatically increase" the Mets Foundation’s giving, with a focus on Citi Field-area causes.

Cohen also is ending the Wilpon-instituted pandemic pay cuts — ranging from 5-30% — as of Sunday and will support 1,000 seasonal ballpark workers with $500 per month from November through Opening Day. The total value of those employee commitments, he said, is $9.5 million.

"Steve will continue, and will build upon, this organization’s longstanding commitment to the support of our community, and of those in need, which is especially important at this time," Fred Wilpon said. "He shares the view that Saul, Jeff and I have long held, that ownership of the Mets is a public trust. I know that he will take that as seriously as we always have."

Those promises came after more than a week of de Blasio saying the city’s law department was reviewing Cohen and his purchase, a process that could have held up the sale becoming final. The city has a say because it owns Citi Field and the land it sits on.

But de Blasio announced Friday afternoon, shortly after the owners’ vote, that he was fine with it.

"The New York City Law Department has completed its legal review of the proposed sale of the Mets," de Blasio said. "New York City does not object to the sale, and the Mets may proceed with the transaction."

In addition to being chairman and chief executive officer, titles he is giving himself, Cohen also will be the Mets’ "control person," which is MLB’s term for a club’s majority owner and top decision-maker. And, as Cohen announced last month, former general manager Sandy Alderson will return as team president, overseeing all baseball and business operations.

The public portion of this sale saga took nearly a year. The Mets first announced Dec. 4 that Cohen, a minority owner since 2012, was in talks to buy up to 80% of the team. But that deal fell apart in February because of a five-year period in which Fred Wilpon and his son, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, would have retained their titles and power even as Cohen in effect owned the team.

The Wilpons declared they were open to other bidders but in August entered exclusive negotiations with Cohen. They announced Sept. 14 that they agreed to a new deal, pending MLB approval.

Cohen, who lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, made his fortune on Wall Street and is the founder of the hedge fund Point72 Asset Management.

Under its previous name, SAC Capital Advisors, the firm pleaded guilty to criminal insider-trading charges in 2013 and paid a $1.8 billion fine in 2014. Cohen, as an individual, was never charged with a crime, though he was banned from managing others’ money for two years as a result of a civil suit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SportsNet New York, the television home of the Mets since its inception in 2006, is not part of this sale. The Wilpon and Katz families own a controlling interest in SNY. Its deal to broadcast Mets games runs through at least 2030, a source previously said.

As far as the Mets themselves, though, the Wilpons are only technically involved.

This is Steve Cohen’s team now.

"I would like to thank the owners and Commissioner Manfred and his team for welcoming me to Major League Baseball," he said. "And I want to thank Fred Wilpon for inviting me to buy into the franchise in 2012. Fred is one of the game’s true gentlemen and I consider it an honor to be the new owner of this iconic franchise. Most of all, I’d like to thank Mets fans for their unwavering support throughout this process."

His statement ended with three words: "Let’s go Mets!"