After a deal to purchase the New York Mets earlier in the year came up empty, Steve Cohen returned to the drawing board. Last week, the 64-year-old hedge fund manager officially became the owner of the New York Mets. And in doing so, he became the richest owner in baseball history. How much is Steve Cohen’s net worth?

Steve Cohen amasses staggering wealth

Steve Cohen got his start in the business world as a junior trader on Wall Street at Gruntal & Co. in 1979. Incredibly, on his first day, he recorded an impressive $8,000 profit. It was a precursor of things to come. Cohen stayed at Gruntal until 1992 when he launched his own business SAC Capital Advisors.

For the next decade, Cohen’s business and, subsequently, his wealth, exploded. By 2009, his company was one of the biggest hedge funds and managed $14 billion in equity. 

While Steve Cohen has achieved great success and wealth, he’s found himself in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission on several occasions. In 1985, the SEC became suspicious of his bet that RCA and GE would merge, which later happened. 

More recently, in 2013, SAC Capital Advisors pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and paid $1.8 billion in penalties. Cohen managed to escape personal criminal indictment charges. 

Steve Cohen purchases New York Mets

In 2012, Steve Cohen bought an 8% stake in the New York Mets baseball team. Since that purchase, the native New Yorker, like other Mets fans, watched each season end in familiar disappointment. In late 2019, Cohen pursued a full buyout of the club and reached a deal to purchase the team from owners Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon. The deal, however, fell apart. 

In August, Cohen and the current owners were reportedly negotiating a new deal. A month later, it was announced a deal had been agreed to by all parties. All that remained was approval from 23 of the 29 owners in MLB. Owners approved the deal in late October, and on November 6, Cohen was formally introduced as the new team owner. 

“I’m essentially doing it for the fans,” Cohen said in a press conference. “When I really thought about this, I could make millions of people happy, and what an incredible opportunity that is.” He also told Mets fans what they wanted to hear declaring it would be disappointing if the team didn’t win a World Series title in three to five years.

Cohen has a staggering net worth

While Steve Cohen shut down SAC Capital Advisors in 2013, he founded Point72 Ventures in 2016. According to Forbes, it is currently a $16 billion hedge fund. 

In addition to buying the New York Mets, Cohen spends his money on art, and reportedly has one of the most valuable art collections in the world valued at more than $1 billion. Among his valued pieces are Koons’s Rabbit, Picasso’s Le Rêve, and Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.

Steve Cohen, who has an estimated net worth of $14 billion, is also generous with his money. Through the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, he has given $50 million to the New York Museum of Modern Art. He also committed $275 million to the Cohen Veterans Network, which was created to establish mental health centers for veterans and their families throughout the nation.

While Cohen has been generous with his money for good causes, Mets fans can only hope he’s true to his word and spends some of his massive wealth on the team in the coming years. If he does follow through on his commitment and spares no expense in building a winning team in Queens, the future could be bright. 

Like Sportscasting on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @sportscasting19.