Mets owner Steve Cohen refers to 'personal threats' after deactivating Twitter account
New Mets owner Steve Cohen at Citi Field for a season-ticket holders event on Dec. 12.
Mets owner Steve Cohen has confirmed his "break" from Twitter, but in a statement released by the team Saturday, he also suggested that he could be back.
Cohen’s Twitter account, which had become popular with the fan base, was abruptly deactivated Friday night after a turbulent week in which he became publicly entangled in the GameStop stock saga and subsequently feuded with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
On Saturday, Cohen acknowledged that the controversy, as well as "personal threats" to his family over "misinformation," led to his decision.
Portnoy spearheaded the Twitter assault on Cohen by suggesting that the Mets’ owner was behind the shutdown of GameStop trading in an effort to rescue his hedge-fund allies. Since then, Cohen had been on the defensive before finally deleting the account and releasing Saturday’s statement to explain.
"I’ve really enjoyed the back and forth with Mets fans on Twitter, which was unfortunately overtaken this week by misinformation unrelated to the Mets that led to our family getting personal threats," Cohen said in the statement. "So I’m going to take a break for now. We have other ways to listen to your suggestions and remain committed to doing that. I love our team, this community, and our fans, who are the best in baseball. Bottom line is that this week’s events in no way affect our resources and drive to put a championship team on the field. #LGM"
His handle, @StevenACohen2, had existed since January 2017, but he didn’t tweet much until he completed his purchase of the Mets this offseason for a record $2.4 billion. In the months since, he frequently interacted with fans and displayed his quick wit.
Cohen also broke Mets news on his Twitter account. He was the first to announce that new GM Jared Porter had been fired with a tweet that posted at 7:55 a.m. on Jan. 19. At the time, Cohen cited "the importance of integrity," and his recent involvement in the GameStop scandal — the depth of which has yet to be revealed — again could question his commitment to those words. In 2013, Cohen’s former company, SAC Capital, was forced to pay a $1.8 billion fine, the largest ever to settle an insider-trading case.
Earlier this week, in the contentious Twitter back-and-forth with Portnoy, Cohen denied any wrongdoing in the GameStop/ Robinhood fiasco. A day later, Cohen deleted his account.
Cohen’s hedge fund, Point72 Asset Management, was down a reported 15% on the year as of Wednesday, largely because of the GameStop stock plunge. He invested $750 million in Melvin Capital Management, which is run by Gabriel Plotkin, a former protege of Cohen’s.
On Saturday, Cohen — who is worth an estimated $14 billion — emphasized that the past week’s events would have no impact on his operation of the Mets.
In a heated exchange with Portnoy on Thursday, Cohen wrote in part: "If I want to make an additional investment with somebody, that is my right if it’s in the best interest of my investors. Chill out."
On Friday afternoon, Cohen wrote in a tweet, "Anyway, back to the Mets." A few hours later, his account deactivated.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
