Kurt Rappaport, a luxury real estate broker and developer behind the Beverly Hills-based Westside Estate Agency, is reportedly joining the list of bidders to buy the New York Mets baseball team, according to a report from The New York Daily News.
His competition to own the Queens-based team reportedly includes baseball great Alex Rodriguez and superstar Jennifer Lopez, as well as billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen.
Kurt Rappaport | Photo credit: Westside Estate Agency
Rappaport, the founder and CEO of Westside Estate Agency has an estimated net worth of roughly $350 million, according to the report, and would be leading a group in purchasing the team. Sources close to Rappaport said the millionaire developer would have no issue securing billionaire business partners to buy the team, according to The Daily News.
The New York Mets baseball team has reportedly been for sale since February and are valued around $2.4 billion. The team’s current owners, brothers Fred and Jeff Wilpon, reportedly had agreed to a sale to Cohen for $2.6 billion, which ultimately fell through. Cohen is reportedly still interested in purchasing the team.
Josh Harris and David Blitzer, the billionaire owners of the New Jersey Devils hockey club and Philadelphia 76ers basketball team, are also reportedly interested, as are billionaire brothers David and Simon Ruben. The latter two, who have a combined net worth of $14 billion, are reportedly more interested in real estate opportunities near Citi Field, the Mets’ home ballpark.
