Steven A. Cohen
Scott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Steve Cohen, founder of hedge fund Point72 and owner of the New York Mets, has deactivated his Twitter account after his family was threatened this week during GameStop’s trading frenzy.
“I really enjoyed going back and forth with Mets fans on Twitter, which unfortunately this week was overtaken by misinformation unrelated to the Mets that led to our family receiving personal threats,” Cohen said in a statement. statement on Saturday.
“So I’m taking a break for now. We have other ways to listen to your suggestions and remain committed to them,” he said.
Cohen’s hedge fund, which manages nearly $ 19 billion in assets, lost nearly 15% this year after small investors caused the shares of video game retailer GameStop to surges, a source familiar with the matter told The New York Times.
The losses at Point72 are mainly due to the company’s investment in hedge fund Melvin Capital, which bet against GameStop and received nearly $ 3 billion in emergency cash from two outside investors, including Point72.
Cohen, who bought the Mets for about $ 2.5 billion in November, was asked questions on Twitter about how Melvin’s losses would affect the baseball team.
Cohen was also in talks with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on Twitter on Thursday after Portnoy accused Cohen of being involved in GameStop’s controversial trade restrictions on apps like Robinhood.