Fred Wilpen net worth
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What is Fred Wilpen’s net worth?
Fred Wilpon is an American real estate developer and former baseball executive. Fred Wilpon’s net worth is US$800 million. He was a partial owner of the New York Mets from 1987 to 2002, and was the sole owner from 2002 to 2020. Wilpen earned his first fortune as the co-founder of Sterling Equities, a commercial real estate development company. He co-founded the company with his brother-in-law Saul Katz.
Wilpen is one of the most high-profile victims of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. It was later reported that Wilpen had lost as much as $700 million because of Bernie Madoff. His loss was so great that at one point it was speculated that Fred would be forced to sell the Mets. Fred Wilpon finally agreed to pay $162 million to Madoff’s Victim Trust.
In September 2020, Fred and his partners sold the Mets to hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen for $2.35 billion.
Early life and education
Fred Wilpon was born in 1936 in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. His father Nathan is the manager of a funeral home. When he was a teenager, Wilpen attended Lafayette High School. There, he was a teammate of future Baseball Hall of Fame member Sandy Koufax, and he is still a close friend.
After graduating from high school, Wilpen attended the University of Michigan. During his freshman year, he pitched for the baseball team and later ended his career due to injury. Wilpon graduated from the University of Michigan in 1958 and continued to sell calculators for a while.
Real estate business
In 1972, Wilpon and his brother-in-law Saul Katz co-founded Sterling Equities. A diversified group of business companies whose investment portfolio includes real estate, sports and media holdings mainly in the New York area. These include the Brooklyn Whirlwind minor league baseball team; SportsNet New York; the e-sports team New York Excelsior; and Sterling project development. At the same time, it has developed properties including Citi Field, the tower at 450 Lexington Avenue, and townhouses in Tarrytown, a suburb of Westchester County. In total, Sterling Equities has developed nearly 25 million square feet of commercial real estate.
New York Mets
After owner Charles Shipman Payson sold the New York Mets, Wilpen bought a 1% stake in the team in 1980. Publishing company Doubleday & Co. holds the remaining shares. Gradually, Wilpon increased his stake to 5%. In 1986, when Doubleday President Nelson Doubleday Jr. sold his company to Bertelsmann AG, he and Wilpon agreed to acquire Mets for $81 million, with a 50/50 ownership split between them. Later, in 2002, the Wilpon family bought the other half from Doubleday for $391 million, and Wilpon obtained the sole ownership of the team.
Wilpon served as President of the Mets from 1980 to 2002, Chief Executive Officer from 1980 to 2020, and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2002 to 2020. In September 2020, billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen (Steve Cohen) bought 95% of the Mets. Agreed $2.4 billion deal.
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Madoff scandal
As one of the investors who invested heavily with Bernard Madoff, Wilpen was involved in Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme. According to initial reports, Wilpen lost approximately $700 million when the plan collapsed in 2008. However, later reports showed that Wilpen and his family actually made money through Madoff, accumulating nearly $300 million in profits. Therefore, in 2010, Wilpen was named in a lawsuit filed by Irving Picard on behalf of the victims of the Madoff Ponzi scheme. In order to offset the pending losses caused by the lawsuit, Wilpon issued a statement seeking strategic partners to purchase approximately 25% of the Mets’ shares. It was later revealed that Wilpen used Madoff to manage the finances of the Mets. Madoff’s funds were used to pay for the team and to pay for the creation of Citi Field and the New York Sports Network. In 2012, Wilpon agreed to settle Picard’s lawsuit for US$162 million.
Wilpen and his partner Salkats participated in another Ponzi scheme orchestrated by hedge fund manager Samuel Israel III. When the Israeli hedge fund collapsed, Wilpen and Katz were forced to pay investors $13 million.
Personal life and philanthropy
While attending the University of Michigan, Wilpen met Judy Kessler. The two married shortly afterwards, and Kessler served as the secretary to Blanche Ricky, the former president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The couple have three children: Robin, Jeff and Bruce. Robin is married to Phillip Wachtler, the son of Sol Wachtler, the former Chief Justice of the New York Court of Appeals. Jeff has been the chief operating officer of the Mets until 2020 when he becomes the executive vice president of Sterling Equities. At the same time, Bruce is also a partner of Sterling Equities.
Wilpon and his wife founded the Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation. The foundation donated $5 million to the School of Letters, Science, and Arts at the University of Michigan to create the Irene and Morris B. Kessler Presidential Scholarship Fund in memory of Judy’s Romanian immigrant parents. In addition, the foundation also donated US$5 million for the establishment of the University of Michigan Bone and Joint Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Center, and donated US$4 million for the creation of the Wilpon Baseball and Softball Complex.
