Saul Katz (born February 17, 1939) is a real estate developer, former president of the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
and accused
Bernie Madoff co-conspirator.
Biography
Katz was born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
[New York Post: "Mets’ owners’ kin made millions from Madoff: suit" By Kathianne Boniello]
February 6, 2011 He graduated from
Brooklyn College in 1960 with a degree in accounting.
Sterling Equities
Katz is a co-founder of Sterling Equities. In 1972, he cofounded
Sterling Equities
Sterling Equities in Great Neck, New York, is a diversified, family-run group of companies whose portfolio consists primarily of holdings in real estate, sports, and media in the New York area. These include the New York Mets, the Brooklyn Cyclon ...
, a commercial real estate development company, with his brother-in-law
Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is an American real estate developer and former baseball executive. He was principal owner of the New York Mets from 1987 to 2020.
Early life and education
Wilpon was raised in a Jewish family . They built a development of townhouses in
Tarrytown
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hu ...
, a suburb in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
which was very successful.
[The New Yorker: "Madoff’s Curveball - will Fred Wilpon be forced to sell the Mets?" by Jeffrey Toobin](_blank)
May 30, 2011 Seeking to minimize their tax obligations, they purchased real estate throughout the country that had favorable tax treatment
which turned out to be a boon since they were unknowingly buying property at the bottom of the market.
Sterling Equities was a significant investor in Bernie Madoff's fraudulent investment fund with 483 accounts.
Merrill Lynch warned Saul Katz on several occasions about Madoff's operation, as did numerous other financial professionals.
Sterling Equities ignored these warnings collectively receiving $300 million dollars via the Madoff operation ultimately revealed as a fraud.
The Madoff fraud collapsed and Sterling Equities owners were sued by the trustee representing the victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme who claimed they "knew or should have known Madoff was operating a fraud."
In 2012, it was reported that Sterling Equities was to receive a gift of 23 acres of land from New York City with the intention of developing the land into a shopping mall. The city had recently spent almost $500 million acquiring and improving that same land. The Attorney General of New York,
Eric Schneiderman
Eric Tradd Schneiderman (born December 31, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 65th Attorney General of New York from 2011 until his resignation in May 2018. Schneiderman, a member of the Democratic Party, spent ten year ...
reached a settlement agreement regarding illegal lobbying on behalf of Sterling Equities. In 2015, a New York state court ruled that the because part of the plan involved private development of public parkland it was illegal. By 2018, the plans for a shopping mall had been shelved and the
De Blasio administration was supporting a plan centered around affordable housing. The deal was approved by the Queens Borough Board. It will include an acre of open space, an elementary school, and 1100 affordable apartments.
New York Mets
Saul Katz first bought an ownership stake in the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
in 1980. In addition, he served as the President of the
Brooklyn Cyclones
The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...
, a Mets minor league affiliate.
Katz became President of the Mets in 2003. Katz's time as president of the Mets, it has been reported that sexual harassment was rampant.
The culture was described as "rotten." This included bullying a pregnant woman and sending a reporter harassing text messages including photos of an erect penis. Allegedly, the "behavior was widely known in the Mets front office."
[ in 2021, new owner Steve Cohen hired a law firm to look into the accusations of harassment, misconduct, and discrimination during Katz's tenure.
The Mets rarely made money under Katz's leadership. Nearly every dollar the Mets earned passed through Bernie Madoff's investment funds. The collapse of Madoff's fraudulent investment scheme came close to bankrupting the Mets. It also likely contributed to their inconsistent record on the field. The team did not win a World Championship after 1986 and appeared in the playoffs only three times, during 2006, 2015, and 2016, during Katz’s time as President. In 2014, Katz was rumored to be interested in selling his ownership stake in the Mets. Katz and his fellow owners sold a minority stake and, eventually, total ownership in the team.
When the 2020 MLB season was delayed and later shortened due to the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, employees complained about not being paid and not hearing anything from the Mets owners. By comparison, Nets owner Joseph Tsai
Joseph Tsai (; born January 1964) is a Hong Kong-Canadian billionaire businessman, lawyer, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder and executive vice chairman of the Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group and owns the Brooklyn Net ...
announced he would be paying non-salaried Barclays Center employees within one day after the NBA season was canceled.
In 2020, a deal to sell the team to hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen fell through over issues of team control. A similar deal with David Einhorn had fallen through in 2011. In February 2020, it was reported that Katz and his partners were willing to sell the team without maintaining control. In August, Cohen again entered into exclusive negotiations to buy the Mets. In September a deal was reached for Cohen to purchase 95% of the franchise from Katz and the Wilpons for approximately $2.4 billion and on October 30, he was approved by MLB's owners. Katz was then succeeded as president by Sandy Alderson
Richard Lynn "Sandy" Alderson (born November 22, 1947) is an American baseball executive. He is currently the president of the New York Mets. He previously served as the general manager of the New York Mets from 2011 to 2018, an executive in the O ...
.
Madoff Ponzi Scheme
Saul Katz, Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is an American real estate developer and former baseball executive. He was principal owner of the New York Mets from 1987 to 2020.
Early life and education
Wilpon was raised in a Jewish family , and Jeff Wilpon were portrayed as co-conspirators in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Sterling Equities
Sterling Equities in Great Neck, New York, is a diversified, family-run group of companies whose portfolio consists primarily of holdings in real estate, sports, and media in the New York area. These include the New York Mets, the Brooklyn Cyclon ...
and individuals affiliated with Katz and Wilpon received $300 million in respect of investments in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. Lawyers for the Madoff Trustee cited evidence that Sterling partners shopped for fraud insurance as evidence they were "well aware" that Madoff was carrying out a Ponzi scheme. Wilpon and Katz "categorically reject d the charge that they "ignored warning signs" about Madoff's fraud. Irving H. Picard, the Madoff Trustee, has alleged that Katz's relationship with Mr. Madoff was extensive and longstanding and that they continued even after suspicions were raised. Picard sued Katz, his partner Fred Wilpon, and Sterling Equities for 1 billion in illegal profits from the scheme. In 2012, Saul Katz, Gregory Katz, Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is an American real estate developer and former baseball executive. He was principal owner of the New York Mets from 1987 to 2020.
Early life and education
Wilpon was raised in a Jewish family , Jeff Wilpon and other Sterling Equities partners settled with Picard for $162 million.
Bayou Hedge Fund Group Ponzi Scheme
Saul Katz and his partner and brother-in-law Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is an American real estate developer and former baseball executive. He was principal owner of the New York Mets from 1987 to 2020.
Early life and education
Wilpon was raised in a Jewish family were involved in another Ponzi scheme which was orchestrated by Samuel Israel III
Samuel Israel III (born July 20, 1959) is an American fraudster and former hedge fund manager for the Bayou Hedge Fund Group, which he founded in 1996. In 2008, Israel was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $300 million for ...
and they were forced to pay $13 million to investors when Israel's hedge fund collapsed. Through their partnership with Peter Stamos, Sterling Stamos, Wilpon and Katz were accused of withdrawing nearly all of their $30 million investment from the fund immediately before it collapsed. They settled in 2009 for $12.9 million.
Personal life
Katz is married to Iris Katz, sister of the Mets managing partner Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is an American real estate developer and former baseball executive. He was principal owner of the New York Mets from 1987 to 2020.
Early life and education
Wilpon was raised in a Jewish family . They have three children: Heather Katz Knopf, Natalie Katz O’Brien, and David M. Katz. The Katzes live in Glen Cove, New York and have a winter home in Boca Raton, Florida. Saul Katz was personally close with Bernie Madoff describing him as "a man who we were friends with for 35 years."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Saul
1939 births
Living people
Brooklyn College alumni
Major League Baseball team presidents
New York Mets executives
Stuyvesant High School alumni
American chief operating officers
Jewish American baseball people
American real estate businesspeople
People associated with the Madoff investment scandal
Wilpon family
21st-century American Jews