The debt-ridden Mets have agreed to sell less than 49 percent of the team for $200 million to a Manhattan hedge-fund manager, the team announced today.
David Einhorn, who is president of Greenlight Capital Inc., will buy the minority stake in the franchise pending approval from Major League Baseball.
“Having an opportunity to become part of the Mets franchise is exciting beyond my wildest childhood dreams. I spent my first seven years living in New Jersey and rooting for the Mets,” Einhorn said.
“In 1975, I even dressed in a homemade jersey as a Met for Halloween. I have been a baseball fan for my entire life and have enjoyed teaching the game as the coach of my daughter’s little league team.”
The Mets lost $51 million last season and expect to lose upwards of $70 million this season.
The team was hoping to close on a deal by June 30 so it could use the investment cash to fund day-to-day operations and repay some debt. The Mets took a $30 million emergency loan from MLB last year.
MLB pressured Sterling Enterprises, which owns the team, to raise money after it lost $500 million in Bernie Madoff’s funds and found it difficult to bankroll the franchise.
Majority owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz are battling a lawsuit brought by the Madoff estate trustee seeking $1 billion in purported profits and damages.
The two businessmen have maintained they were victims of Madoff like thousands of others and didn’t know the fraudster was running a Ponzi scheme.
This ends a busy week with Wilpon after he was quoted in The New Yorker on Monday calling the Mets “sh—y” and “lousy”, taking shots at the team’s biggest stars — David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran.
“We are very excited about David joining our ownership group for several reasons,” Wilpon said of Einhorn in a statement. “David’s investment immediately improves the franchise’s financial position.
“Equally important, David’s intelligence, integrity and success in both business and civic affairs provides us with another perspective in evaluating what is best for this organization and our fans, and we welcome his input. In partnership with David, we look forward to achieving our ultimate goal of again becoming World Series champions.”
Einhorn co-founded Greenlight Capital in 1996 and is the author of the book “Fooling Some Of The People All Of The Time,” which detailed his battle with the investment firm Allied Capital.
“I look forward to partnering with the Wilpon and Katz families through the good seasons, the tough seasons and especially the championship seasons,” Einhorn said.