Wilpons Plan to Keep Control of Mets

Filed under: Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- With the New York Mets under pressure because of a lawsuit and searching for investors, Jeff Wilpon insisted on the eve of spring training that his family won't give up control of the team.

Owner Fred Wilpon and son Jeff, the team's chief operating officer, said Jan. 28 they were exploring selling up to 25 percent of the franchise because of "uncertainty'' caused by the lawsuit filed by Irving H. Picard, the trustee trying to recover money for victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. Picard is seeking at least $300 million from the Wilpons, team president and brother-in-law Saul Katz and related Sterling Equities entities.

"We're not selling controlling interest in the team,'' Jeff Wilpon said Wednesday at the Mets spring training complex. "It's not on the table.''

While Picard claims the Wilpons and Katz were net winners from their Madoff investments and ignored warnings that Madoff's high returns might be false, the Mets owners have said they are victims in the scheme and Jeff Wilpon said they will be "victorious in the end.''

 

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