New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is taking a “break” from Twitter after saying his family received personal threats this week amid a continuing stalemate in stock trading between day traders and hedge funds.
“I really enjoyed coming and going with Mets fans on Twitter, which unfortunately was overcome this week by misinformation unrelated to Mets that caused our family to receive personal threats,” Cohen said in a statement on Saturday after disabling his account on Friday night. “So I’m going to take a break for now. We have other ways to listen to your suggestions and remain committed to doing so. I love our team, this community and our fans, who are the best in baseball. The end result is that this week’s events in nothing affect our resources and drive to put a champion team on the field. “
Cohen’s decision to leave Twitter appears to stem from a conflict between independent investors and hedge funds. Day traders, mobilized on Reddit, poured all the money they found into the stocks of video game retailer GameStop and a few other defeated companies. Their purchase inflated the stock prices of these companies beyond anyone’s imagination and inflicted huge losses on hedge funds that bet on the fall of the shares.
Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management became involved when it invested in Melvin Capital Management, a hedge fund that had placed many bets against GameStop and attracted the ire of Reddit users.
GameStop shot up nearly 70% on Friday to close at $ 325. In the past three weeks, the stock has generated an astonishing 1,600% gain. The danger for day traders is that, at any time, stocks may collapse.
Before closing his Twitter account, Cohen – the richest owner of baseball, worth more than $ 14.5 billion – responded to the controversy on Tuesday, tweeting, “Rough crowd in Twitter today. Hey stock market jockeys, keep going bringing it.”
Among Cohen’s critics, WFAN host and former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason said he would stop attending the Mets games “until I find out exactly what’s going on here” in relation to Cohen’s involvement in the situation from GameStop.
The owner of Mets had already gained about 200,000 followers on Twitter for his irreverent interactions with fans, where he received suggestions on how to lead the team, reacted to the team’s biggest moves – such as switching to shortstop Francisco Lindor – and provoked a return of black shirts.
ESPN’s Joon Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.