According to a report, Mets deep-pocketed boss Steve Cohen has brought key employees in the front office of the MLB team to moonlight from his $24 billion hedge fund and their number-crunching strategies are paying off.
Some of Cohen’s top executives from Point72 Asset Management, including Chief Technology Officer Mark Brubaker and Head of Taxes Steve Cena, are similarly listed as executives at the MetS. According to The Wall Street Journal, the team employs Point72’s head of human resources, data solutions and data engineering in similar roles.
According to the paper, Point 72 has also extended loans to other employees to fill spot duties whenever specific projects arise with the Mets.
Cohen is paying his Moonlight employees extra out-of-pocket in hopes of improving the Met’s data and analytics operations, the report said.
A source told the Journal that since Cohen bought the team from the Wilpon family two years ago for $2.4 billion, the number of people working in data and analytics has grown from eight full-time employees to 35 — many of whom are from Point 72. Huh.
The Journal reported that the Mets are relying more heavily on analytics-driven information to help with player development and other aspects of running a baseball team.
Mets president Sandy Alderson said, “He has been an example to us, what constitutes the best-in-class, that Steve aspires for the Mets.”
“It raised the bar for us.”
The strategy seems to be working so far. The Mets have a 20–10 record in the first month of the season, good enough for first place in the National League East.
Point 72 attempts to ease investor concerns that Cohen’s Mets-related duties distract him and his top executives from their regular day jobs.
The Journal reported that many investors were either unhappy with the split fee or didn’t even know it was going on.
According to the Journal, some of them withdrew their investments from Point 72 after Cohen bought the Mets, which has $24.4 billion in assets under management, because he feared it would divert attention away from the hedge fund.
But Cohen’s chief of staff, Michael Sullivan, said the boss continues to work seven days a week and has “not missed a day of trading” since buying Amazins in 2020.
“No Mets-related costs are passed on through P72 investors in any way,” Point 72 spokeswoman Tiffany Galvin-Cohen told the Journal.
Cohen, 65, has endeared himself to Mets fans, who affectionately refer to him on Twitter as “Uncle Steve” for his free spending ways.
The hedge fund billionaire, whose net worth is estimated at around $17.4 billion by Forbes, has vowed to spare no expense in attempting to bring Flushing a World Series title. The Mets haven’t won a World Series since 1986.
During the off-season, the Mets acquired three-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Max Scherzer, earning him a three-year, $130 million contract. Scherzer’s $43.3 million salary this season is the highest of all Major League Baseball players.
Last season, Cohen made another splash, signing star shortstop Francisco Lindor to a massive 10-year, $341 million contract. The Mets under Cohen now have the second-largest payroll in MLB after the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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