Thanks to Bernie Madoff and MLB, television host Bill Maher and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci are tripling their investments.
Maher and “The Mooch” were among the people that invested in separate groups that injected $20 million into the New York Mets in 2012 when the then-owners, the Wilpon family, needed help after Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, according to the New York Post.
Now that Steve Cohen has become the richest Major League Baseball owner ever with his $2.4 billion purchase of the Mets, those investments tripled because the team had been at $719 million valuation at the time of the cash calls.
“Investing in the Wilpons got scary for a while there, so they’re thrilled to get paid out like this by one of their own,” a source told the Post. “The guys who bought in for $20 million are going to walk away very happy.”
The Post reported that the Wilpons faced a debt of more than $500 million, including $162 million for the Madoff involvement. Scaramucci and Maher were part of $20 million infusions for 4% stakes to keep the franchise afloat. Cohen has a 95% stake with his $2.4 billion purchase.
Maher and Scaramucci stand to get paid like Trevor Bauer, the Cy Young Award winner who baseball pundits figure is New York-bound now that Cohen has deep pockets and World Series wishes.
When Mets President Sandy Alderson said Bauer would be a great personality and entertaining for New York, Bauer cracked in a tweet, “Nah…baseball isn’t entertainment. It’s boring and personality isn’t allowed. And this Bauer guy is going to be terrible in the New York media. Big head case. Couldn’t handle it.”
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