He’s the A-Rod of Wall Street.
One investor in The-Street.com claims the company’s co-founder and biggest name — TV stockpicker Jim Cramer — is the equivalent of an overpaid baseball slugger who has failed to deliver for shareholders.
Private-equity firm Spear Point argued in its latest letter to the company’s board that Cramer’s $1 million-plus salary should be tied to performance when his three-year contract comes up for renewal at the end of the year.
“If Mr. Cramer were a player on the New York Yankees, his talent and fame would be marginally interesting,” according to the letter obtained by The Post. “To play in the major leagues you must contribute to your team’s success.
“Mr. Cramer has failed over the years to do that for his team, TheStreet, and its Steinbrenners, the shareholders.”
According to Spear Point, Cramer has received more than $13 million in cash compensation and millions more in stock and other benefits from 1999 until 2012, including a personal driver, while “common shareholders have watched almost $400 million in market value evaporate.”
The New Orleans hedge fund, which owns more than 2 percent of the common stock and has been pushing for a sale, said Cramer should also quit as the host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” to focus on the company or step down from the board of directors.
“His presence on CNBC is becoming directly competitive to TheStreet, as the company continues to build its own video business,” according to the Oct. 9 letter.
Cramer, who helped launch TheStreet in 1996, still owns 6 percent of the stock. Although he’s no longer an executive, he gets more than $1 million a year as a contributing writer, as well as for his participation in various video clips that appear on the web site.
His salary has remained steady despite TheStreet’s struggles. The stock has been a loser since it went public at $19 a share in 1999. Since then, the shares have lost roughly 90 percent of their value, closing at $2.32 on Friday.
“Cramer talks about helping the little guy but he doesn’t play it that way,” Spear Point co-CEO Ron Bienvenu told The Post.
Cramer declined comment.
“Jim Cramer is currently under contract with TheStreet,” CEO Elisabeth DeMarse told The Post. “It should be obvious to anyone that it doesn’t make sense to negotiate Jim Cramer’s future publicly.”
Cramer mentions his paid newsletter Action Alerts PLUS three times a week on CNBC. DeMarse declined to disclose how much TheStreet makes from the Cramer newsletter.
TheStreet posted a $3 million operating loss for the six months ended June 30 and stays afloat thanks to $47 million in cash. It reports third-quarter results Thursday.
The company generates most of its revenue from its newsletters, including Motley Fool and the Deal.com.
Spear Point’s $2.80 per share offer to take it private was rebuffed, in part because of the ownership structure. Venture capital firm TCV owns $55 million worth of preferred Class B shares and would have to be bought out, TheStreet said in a letter.