Fred Wilpon
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Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is an American real estate developer and former
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
executive. He was principal owner 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 ...
from 1987 to 2020.


Early life and education

Wilpon was raised in 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 ...
familyNew York Observer: "Even During Series Mets Partners Spar, Endangering Stadium" By Andrew Rice
October 30, 2010
in
Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
,
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 ...
.University of Michigan - Michigan Today: "NY Mets Owner Fred Wilpon, '58, Looks Back"
April 15, 2013
His father, Nathan Wilpon, managed a funeral home.New York Daily News: "KIDS HAVE A PAL IN NEW PROGRAM" By Denis Hamill
July 30, 2002
Wilpon attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn. Wilpon was a big fan of baseball and pitched his freshman year in college until he was injured. In 1958, he graduated with a B.A. from the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. After college, he sold calculators for a time while his wife worked as a secretary for
Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...
, the former president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, whom he knew from the neighborhood.The New Yorker: "Madoff’s Curveball - will Fred Wilpon be forced to sell the Mets?" by Jeffrey Toobin
May 30, 2011


Career

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
Saul Katz Saul Katz (born February 17, 1939) is a real estate developer, former president of the New York Mets and accused Bernie Madoff co-conspirator. Biography Katz was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn.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 o ...
which was very successful. 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. He still serves as the company's chairman. In 1980, Wilpon bought a one-percent stake in the Mets when Charles Shipman Payson sold the team, with publishing company Doubleday & Co. holding the remaining interest. He gradually increased his stake to five percent. In 1986, Doubleday president
Nelson Doubleday Jr. Nelson Doubleday Jr. (July 20, 1933 – June 17, 2015) was the owner and the next-to-last president and CEO of Doubleday and Company before its sale to Bertelsmann A.G. in 1986. He was instrumental in the company's purchase of the New York Mets ...
sold Doubleday & Co. to
Bertelsmann AG Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and e ...
. Wilpon had a right of first refusal in the event of a sale and threatened to exercise it. In the resulting settlement, Doubleday and Wilpon agreed to purchase the Mets for $81 million, with each holding a 50 percent stake. In
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, the Wilpon family purchased the remaining 50% of the Mets from Doubleday for $391 million, giving Wilpon sole ownership of the Mets. Wilpon served as president of the team between 1980 and 2002, CEO from 1980 to 2020, and chairman of the board from 2002 to 2020. In September 2020, a deal was reached for billionaire hedge fund manager
Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to: Sportspeople * Stephan Cohen (born 1971), French pocket billiards player * Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast *Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian *Ste ...
to purchase 95% of the Mets from Wilpon, his son C.O.O. Jeff Wilpon and co-owner Saul Katz for approximately $2.4 billion and on October 30, Cohen was approved by MLB's owners.


Madoff investment scandal

Wilpon was one of the investors who invested a significant amount of money with
Bernard Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ s ...
which was lost when the
Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...
collapsed in December 2008. It was reported that Wilpon had "lost" about $700 million because of Madoff, which led to speculation that would be forced to sell the team. Since then Wilpon has said that his losses were "substantially less" than that figure. Reports later surfaced that Wilpon and his family actually made about $300 million with Madoff and had not lost money as previously reported. As a result, in December 2010, Wilpon was named in a lawsuit filed by
Irving Picard use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , nationality = , other_names = , citizenship = , ...
on behalf of the victims of Madoff's investment scandal and on January 28, 2011 Wilpon issued a statement seeking "one or more strategic partners" interested in buying 20 to 25% interest in the Mets to offset pending losses due to litigation (which may total up to $1 billion). Wilpon and his partner and brother-in-law
Saul Katz Saul Katz (born February 17, 1939) is a real estate developer, former president of the New York Mets and accused Bernie Madoff co-conspirator. Biography Katz was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn.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. It was revealed that Wilpon utilized Madoff in running the Mets' finances. It became a common practice to negotiate deferred money into players' contracts and then put that money with Madoff to invest because they were able to make money for themselves before paying players. The lawsuit also contends that Madoff funds were used to cover team expenses such as payroll and its minor league club in Brooklyn, as well as financing the creation of the cable network
SportsNet New York SportsNet New York (SNY) is an American regional sports network owned by Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, LLC, itself a joint venture between the Fred Wilpon (which owns a controlling 65% interest) Sterling Equities, Charter Communications thr ...
and
Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...
. In an interview while in prison, Madoff claimed that Wilpon "knew nothing" about his Ponzi scheme. After it was reported that
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
loaned the Mets $25 million in November 2010 to shore up their finances, Wilpon is now willing to sell up to a 49% ownership stake of the team at a cost of $200 million. On May 26, 2011, it was reported that Wilpon has agreed to sell a minority share of the Mets to David Einhorn, president of the hedge fund
Greenlight Capital Greenlight Capital is a hedge fund founded in 1996 by David Einhorn (hedge fund manager), David Einhorn. Greenlight invests primarily in publicly traded North American corporate debt offerings and equities. Greenlight is most notable for its sho ...
, but ended negotiations on September 1. After the Mets received a $40 million loan from
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
in November 2011, Major League Baseball is monitoring the situation closely and is prepared to take control of the team from Wilpon if he defaults on the loan. The trustee to the Madoff trust, Irving H. Picard, had declared that the Wilpons had enriched themselves over many years of profitable investing with Mr. Madoff while ignoring repeated warnings that he might have been a fraud. On March 19, 2012, Wilpon agreed to settle Picard's lawsuit for $162 million.


Philanthropy

The Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation donated $5 million to the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts to establish the Irene and Morris B. Kessler Presidential Scholarship Fund named in honor of his wife's parents, Romanian immigrant and dentist, Morris Kessler, and Irene Nass.University of Michigan News: "Celebration of Kessler Scholars; $10 million for need-based scholarships at U-M
October 07, 2008
The Wilpons have also donated $5 million to create the University of Michigan Bone & Joint Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation Center, and $4 million for the Wilpon Baseball and Softball Complex.


Personal life

Wilpon is married to Judy Kessler whom he met in college. She is a 1958 graduate of the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. His daughter, Robin Wilpon, is married to Phillip Wachtler, son of former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals,
Sol Wachtler Solomon "Sol" Wachtler (born April 29, 1930) is an American lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992. Wachtler's most famous quote, made shortly after his appointment as ...
. His son, Jeff Wilpon, was the COO of the Mets until 2020 and is currently the executive vice-president of Sterling Equities.Times Herald Record: "Jeff Wilpon won't rest until Amazin' mission is complete" By Michael P. Geffner
March 29, 2008
His son, Bruce Wilpon, is also a partner at Sterling Equities. As a teenager Wilpon was a teammate of
Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
r
Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...
on Brooklyn's Lafayette High School baseball team. Wilpon and Koufax remain close friends, with Koufax an annual visitor at the Mets'
spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
facility in
Port St. Lucie, Florida Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most populous municipality in the county with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 census. It is located southeast of Orlando and north of Miami. The Port St. Lu ...
and Koufax being asked to testify at the Madoff trial.


Notes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilpon, Fred 1936 births Living people American real estate businesspeople Major League Baseball team presidents New York Mets executives New York Mets owners People associated with the Madoff investment scandal University of Michigan alumni Businesspeople from New York City Sportspeople from Brooklyn Jewish American philanthropists Jewish American baseball people Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Wilpon family Philanthropists from New York (state) Jewish American sportspeople 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews