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Wilpons Looking To Sell Part of Mets
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 28, 2011
Modified Jan 28, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 28, 2011
Modified Jan 28, 2011
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The owners of the Mets announced today that they are looking to sell off part of the team, and it's all due to Bernie Madoff. The Wilpons' investment company which owns the Mets, Sterling Equities, is being sued by a trustee who alleges that the company was a “net winner” in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The team is run by Fred Wilpon (CEO) and his son, Jeff (COO). They said in a statement: “To address the air of uncertainty created by this lawsuit, and to provide additional assurance that the New York Mets will continue to have the necessary resources to fully compete and win, we are looking at a number of potential options including the addition of one or more strategic partners."
After Madoff was arrested two years ago, there was rampant speculation that the Wilpons had lost millions to the swindler. But according to the litigious trustee, Irving Picard, that Mets Limited Partnership put a total of $522.7 million into Madoff accounts and withdrew $570.5 million, for a profit of $47.8 million.
According to the Times, if the Mets are designated as “net winners,” they are subject to a potential "clawback lawsuit that would seek to recover those profits and redistribute them to eligible victims." The Mets were unusually quiet over this off-season, with very few big free agent signings, but the team still has a $140 million payroll, one of the top five largest in the MLB.
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baseball
bernie madoff
mets
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wilpons
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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