GameStop has been a major player in the financial world of late after several Reddit users bought stock and increased the price of the video game store giant. While the stock world doesn't usually have a ton to do with sports, it just so happens to on this occasion. New York Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen is reportedly involved in this GameStop scenario.
According to the Financial Times, Cohen's Point72 Asset Management provided $750 million and joined with Citadel, a hedge fund, to funnel money into Melvin Capital, a firm that has been negatively affected by the skyrocketing GameStop stock prices.
Considering that Cohen recently purchased the Mets for $2.475 billion, the team's fanbase is curious and concerned. One fan asked Cohen on Twitter if his involvement with the GameStop stock situation would affect the Mets payroll. Cohen had a simple response, saying "why would one have anything to do with the other."
Following Cohen's involvement, the price of the GameStop stock rose to $219.70 per share. It even peaked around $250 once fellow billionaire Elon Musk tweeted about it.
Fans do have a reason to be concerned with the team's ownership being involved with a hedge fund, though. After all, when the Wilpons owned the Mets, they were burnt by investments with Bernie Madoff, the former stockbroker that ran a Ponzi scheme and ended up in federal prison.
On Wednesday, CNBC reported that Melvin Capital closed out on the company's GameStop investments on Tuesday, which resulted in a huge loss. However, it was money from Cohen that helped them. Cohen is estimated to be worth around $14.5 billion, so there shouldn't be a whole lot to worry about in terms of the Mets payroll.
After all, the team recently acquired All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor in a trade with the Cleveland Indians, and Lindor will be a free agent following the 2021 season. With that in mind, it's hard to believe that New York would acquire Lindor and not re-sign him, so money would need to be allocated to him.
In addition, the team reportedly offered a contract to star pitcher Trevor Bauer earlier this week, so Cohen clearly isn't shy about spending money.
