- Steve Cohen is the founder of Point72 Capital, a $ 17.2 billion hedge fund, and owner of the New York Mets.
- In a press release, Cohen announced that he was deactivating his Twitter account after receiving family threats amid the GME shopping spree led by Redditors.
- Cohen’s hedge fund has lost nearly 15% this year and has since been under fire for its involvement with Melvin Capital, another hedge fund that beat GameStop.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Steve Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire and owner of the New York Mets, deactivated his Twitter account, saying his family received threats on Saturday amid a Reddit-fueled buying frenzy of GameStop shares.
“I really enjoyed going back and forth with Mets fans on Twitter, which unfortunately was overtaken this week by misinformation related to the Mets, which led to our family getting personal threats,” Cohen said in wrote a press release. “I’m going to take a break for now. We have other ways to listen to your suggestions and stay committed to them.”
Cohen and his $ 17.2 billion Point72 Capital hedge fund were scrutinized for their involvement in Melvin Capital Management, another hedge fund that beat GameStop and the Robinhood frenzy.
Point72 lost nearly 15% this year as individual investors chased the shares of the video game retailer. The company’s losses are mainly due to the $ 2.75 billion investment in Melvin Capital.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy quarreled with Cohen on Thursday and slammed the Mets owner for helping Melvin Capital buffer his losses.
‘You saved Melvin because he was your son with Citadel. I think you have had a strong hand in the criminal events of today, ‘ Portnoy tweeted Cohen.
—Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) 30 January 2021
In response to critics, Cohen denied his involvement with brokers who stopped trading and enforced buying restrictions. He told Portnoy that he ‘just wants to make a living’.
Cohen’s Twitter account was deactivated Friday night.
“I love our team, this community and our fans, who are the best in baseball,” Cohen wrote in the press release. “The end result is that the events of this week do not affect our resources in any way and do not want to put a championship team on the field.”