The Wilpon Era
A timeline: Not enough winning and a massive financial scandal dominate 2-decade run
1972: Real estate developer Fred Wilpon and his brother-in-law Saul Katz co-found Sterling Equities as a vehicle to develop and invest in real estate.
January 1980: Fred Wilpon buys a 5% stake in the Mets with publishing company Doubleday and Co. holding the remaining 95%. Doubleday & Co. bought the Mets from the family of founding owner Joan Payson for $21.1 million.
Oct. 27, 1986: The Mets beat the Red Sox in Game 7 of the World Series to win the second and most recent championship title in franchise history. The club wins under principal owner Nelson Doubleday Jr. and general manager Frank Cashen, while Fred Wilpon still holds a 5% stake in the team.
November1986: Nelson Doubleday Jr. sells Doubleday Co. and buys a 50% stake in the Mets with Fred Wilpon acquiring the remaining half of the club. They become 50-50 owners.
Aug. 14, 2002: Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday end their public feud over the valuation of the team and agree to a deal in which Wilpon buys the remaining 50% stake in the Mets for $135 million. Saul Katz becomes team president and Jeff Wilpon, Fred’s son, becomes chief operating officer.
April 2002-October 2005: The Mets finish with a losing record in three out of four seasons and miss the playoffs in all four seasons during Fred Wilpon’s initial years as principal owner of the franchise.
Oct. 19, 2006: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Mets in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series to end the Amazin’s first playoff run since 2000, when they lost to the Yankees in the Fall Classic.
Dec. 11, 2008: Stockbroker and financial advisor Bernie Madoff is arrested for $65 billion in securities fraud. Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, as well as their business partners and family members, have hundreds of accounts with Madoff ’s firm at the time of his arrest.
March 12, 2009: Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to 11 federal crimes and admits to operating the largest private Ponzi scheme in history. He is sentenced to 150 years in federal prison.
Dec. 7, 2010: Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee liquidating Madoff’s investment firm, files a lawsuit against the Wilpon and Katz family. Fred Wilpon maintains the Mets have the necessary financial and operational resources to compete and win. The Mets finished with a losing record in their next four seasons and missed the playoffs from 2007-14.
November 2010: The Mets borrow $25 million from Major League Baseball under then-commissioner Bud Selig to cover operating costs. Current commissioner Rob Manfred later calls the Wilpons “victims” of the Madoff scandal.
Sept. 1, 2011: Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz end their four-month negotiations to sell a minority share of the team for $200 million to hedge fund manager David Einhorn.
Dec. 5, 2011: All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes leaves the Mets after nine years and signs with the Miami Marlins on a six-year deal. Reyes claims the Mets did not “make a real offer” as the Wilpons continue to battle financial instability following the fallout of the Madoff scandal.
Dec. 13, 2011: It is reported the Wilpons take out a $40 million loan from Bank of America in a continued effort to grapple with their Madoff-related legal entanglements. The team announces the “bridge” loan was approved by MLB and the syndicate of lenders to the Mets.
Feb. 23, 2012: Steve Cohen buys an 8% stake in the Mets for $40 million as the Wilpons continue selling minority stakes in the club to recoup money lost from the Madoff scandal.
Jan. 18, 2015: Fred Wilpon is named the head of MLB’s finance committee under commissioner Rob Manfred.
May 31, 2016: Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz begin paying the victims of Bernie Madoff ’s Ponzi scheme. The payment is reduced from $23.3 million to $16 million — divided into four annual installments. Wilpon and Katz had originally been scheduled to pay $37.9 million by June 1, 2017 before the agreement was changed.
Dec. 4, 2019: Sterling Equities and Steve Cohen begin negotiations for Cohen to increase his investment in the Mets from 8 to 80%. Fred and Jeff Wilpon will remain CEO and COO, respectively, for five more years under this deal.
Feb. 6, 2020: The deal between Sterling Equities and Steve Cohen collapses due to disagreements over Fred and Jeff Wilpon’s continued involvement and stake in the Mets. The Wilpons hire Allen & Co to oversee the sale process.
Sept. 14, 2020: Sterling Equities officially sign an agreement with Steve Cohen to purchase the Mets after months of bidding upon which the hedge-fund billionaire comes out on top. Former Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who sued MLB over his 2013 211-game PED suspension, also formed a group that made a bid, but came up short, in the Mets sale.
Oct. 30, 2020: Major League Baseball owners approve Steve Cohen to become principal owner of the Mets in in a 26-4 vote. The Wilpons are reported to receive a record $2.4 billion payout as part of the deal.