Wilpon Buys More Mets

[Valadius]

Fred Wilpon found $180 million somewhere to buy back a 12% stake in the Mets that had been sold to Comcast and Charter Communications in 2012. This puts the valuation of the team at around $1.5 billion, somewhat lower than the $2.1 billion Forbes estimated last year.



https://nypost.com/2019/03/24/mets-owner-fred-wilpon-values-team-much-lower-at-only-1-5b/https://nypost.com/2019/03/24/mets-owner-fred-wilpon-values-team-much-lower-at-only-1-5b/

[Edgy MD]

A good job by Callaway in the Norville Barnes role.

[Centerfield]

Kinda have mixed feelings about this.



On the one hand, Wilpon buying more Mets kinda deflates any notions that he might sell the team.



On the other hand, it's good that Fred had $180 million just lying around.



The real story here is that the Mets sold 48% of the team in 2012, through 12 lots for $20 million each. That's $20 million for a 4% share, or $60 million for 12%.



Fred just bought back 12% for $180 million. So that's a nice return of $120 million (tripling their money) for the cable companies who were struggling to unload this undervalued interest. Imagine if they had done well.

[Ceetar]

The finances on this are so circular I don't even know where to begin.



They only technically sold off 48% of the team (we knew that), but like, 1 was to Jeff. 1 was to Saul. 3 were to Comcast (these are the ones they're buying back?) which they also partially own.



It was shady to begin with. Was it a way to manipulate frozen assets?



It's been clear as soon as that lawsuit was final and the assets were unfrozen that there was a zero chance of them selling the team.



Oh, and also, a lot of this made possible by garbage republicans and the president granting tax cuts and the like to the 1% at our expense.

[Edgy MD]

They also "sold" shares to SNY, which they own, so it was, in a way, pulling from a thriving asset to prop up a shaky one.

[kcmets]

Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.



Families like this have four sets of books. The books their partners see, the books

the gubment sees, the books the honest employees see and then the cooked books

only they see. It's even easier being in MLB.