The honeymoon is over.
Steve Cohen abruptly deleted his Twitter account Friday night after months of back-and-forth with Mets fans, critics, bloggers and the like. He released a statement Saturday morning clarifying the reasons behind the new owner’s account deactivation, including his family being the target of “personal threats.”
“I’ve really enjoyed the back and forth with Mets fans on Twitter which was unfortunately overtaken this week by misinformation unrelated to the Mets that led to our family getting personal threats,” Cohen said in a statement. “So I’m going to take a break for now. We have other ways to listen to your suggestions and remain committed to doing that.
“I love our team, this community, and our fans, who are the best in baseball. Bottom line is that this week’s events in no way affect our resources and drive to put a championship team on the field. #LGM!”
The personal threats to Cohen and his family began after his testy disagreement with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on Thursday. Portnoy indicated Cohen should receive “prison time” for thinking the billionaire owner’s hedge fund, Point72 Capital, is “untouchable.” Portnoy said: “Fines aren’t enough. Prison or bust.”
Portnoy’s remark caught Cohen’s attention. The Mets owner asked Portnoy why he was beefing with him, to which Portnoy alleged Cohen had “a strong hand” in stock-trading companies placing restrictions on trading apps, like Robinhood. Cohen, in response to Portnoy, tweeted he “had zero to do with what happened.”
Melvin Capital, a hedge fund run by one of Cohen’s old lieutenants, was nearly wiped out entirely this week due to its placing of a large bet against GameStop, the video game retailer.
Cohen’s hedge fund Point72, which manages $19 billion in assets, also suffered losses this week (the New York Times reported Point72 is down 15% this year) due to its investment in Melvin Capital. Point72 reportedly gave Melvin Capital $750 million, in addition to the $1 billion already under management with Melvin, to help stabilize the hedge fund following the GameStop turmoil.
The flood of amateur purchases of GameStop sent the stock price soaring and crashed hedge funds that placed short bets on it. Stock trading companies like Robinhood halted purchases on stocks for GameStop, which led to complaints about lack of free trade. It wasn’t just Portnoy, a day-time trader himself, who went after Robinhood’s decision to restrict trading. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban were among those who voiced their outrage on Twitter, too.
“I’m not feeling the love on this site today,” Cohen tweeted Thursday after anger exploded at the hedge fund industry. “Trading is a tough game. Don’t you think?”
Cohen didn’t expand on the nature of the “personal threats” his family has received after his back-and-forth with Portnoy and other critics before shutting down his Twitter account.
Cohen had a personal Twitter account since 2017, but he elevated his involvement on the site (talking to Mets fans, making dad jokes) after he became owner of the club in November.
Cohen’s Twitter activity was one of the staples of his newborn ownership. He reminded fans in the statement he put out on Saturday that he’ll continue listening to their suggestions on how to make their Mets experience better, but that relationship will proceed in “other ways.”
The last sentence of Cohen’s statement, in which the owner said this week’s events “in no way affect our resources,” is also noteworthy because it’s possible Mets fans started to worry that his hedge fund entanglements were beginning to negatively impact the club’s payroll. Though the New York Times reports Point72 lost 15% this year, Cohen’s remarks have indicated his hedge fund’s poor choices will not impact the Mets’ payroll. Cohen, before deleting his account on Friday, tweeted in response to a fan who inquired about this very topic and said one doesn’t have to do with the other.
Out of this sticky, somewhat perplexing situation in which Mets fans can no longer freely interact with their favorite team’s owner on a public website, fans can take comfort in knowing this dilemma is different from the Bernie Madoff scandal that depleted the former Mets owner’s bank account. Losing $500 million was enough to send the Wilpons scrambling for change in the couch cushions. Cohen, who has a net worth of over $13 billion, is hardly going to be the victim of a debt spiral because this week’s fiasco barely dented his wallet.
So, if you’ve had enough of stocks and trading, just pull a line from Cohen’s now-dead Twitter account and go: Back to the Mets.
