How much trouble are the Wilpons in? The Mets owners, who were investors in Bernard Madoff's huge multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme and are being targeted by the trustee trying to recover money for Madoff victims, are trying to sell part of the team to raise some money and now the Post reports that JPMorgan Chase "is trying to recruit other institutions to join a syndicate to put together a new loan that would tide the Mets over until they sell a minority stake in the ballclub."
The bank already helped pull together $430 million to loan the Mets last year. A source said, "They [JPMorgan] believe the Mets still have the capacity to borrow," but another is more skeptical to the Post, "Are you kidding me? You don't lend into a distressed situation... This is a very risky loan." The Mets apparently are losing $50 million/year and have over $500 million in debts. However, since it team could be worth over $800 million, there is "theoretical collateral."
The Wilpons have said they won't give up majority control, but a Newsday source says that anything up in the air if a court decides they should pay a huge amount to the Madoff trustee who is suing them for up to $1 billion is so-called returns from Madoff, "Ridiculous as it sounds, if there's a judgment that's so big that it overwhelms the financial resources, then obviously all bets are off."
