Billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben, who have a combined net worth of roughly $14 billion, are exploring a bid for the Mets, reports Scott Soshnick of Sportico.
The Reubens -- who made their fortune in real estate -- could reportedly have interest due in part to "development possibilities" around Citi Field.
Much of the area around the ballpark, including Willets Point, has been in a state of flux for roughly a decade due to political maneuvering and red tape regarding potential development.
News of the Reuben brothers' interest comes a day after it was reported that billionaire Mike Repole had joined Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez's potential Mets bid as a general partner.
Repole, a 51-year-old Queens native and close friend of David Wright, has an estimated net worth of roughly $1 billion.
In addition to the Reuben brothers and the Repole/Rodriguez/Lopez group, Josh Harris -- a billionaire who is the principal owner of the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers, and David Blitzer -- a minority owner of the Devils and 76ers -- "are among the suitors" interested in buying the Mets, Soshnick reported on June 8.
Mets COO Jeff Wilpon gave an update on June 11 regarding the potential sale of the team.
"The team will have some kind of transaction," Wilpon said during a panel for the UJA-Federation of New York, according to Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report. "I can't tell you exactly what it's going to be and how it's going to look, but we're working towards a transaction and there's four or five suitors that are out there to do something with and a bunch of philanthropic planning and family planning that my dad and my uncle want to do. And it's totally fine. And when we have something to truly announce and tell you about, we'll do that. Not going to play the speculation game or get in any kind of competition with Page Six or Variety Magazine."
On Feb. 6, after billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen announced that his deal to become majority owner had fallen through, Sterling Partners released a statement citing the "highly complicated" transaction they had been attempting with Cohen and adding that Sterling intended to "pursue a new transaction and has engaged Allen & Company to manage that process."
A report in the New York Times shed light on the snag the potential deal hit after it had been reported that Cohen was close to walking away from the table.
MLB -- non-Mets -- sources with knowledge of the Cohen negotiation said it wasn't the five-year transition of power that was at issue, SNY's Andy Martino reported, saying that part of the transaction was a done deal in writing months before talks broke down.
Bloomberg reported that in the wake of the failed negotiations with Cohen, there would be "no preconditions regarding control of the team" as part of the next attempted sale, meaning the next majority owner would likely have full control once the sale is complete.
Fred Wilpon has been the majority owner of the Mets since 2002, when he bought out Nelson Doubleday.
Doubleday and Company and Wilpon purchased the Mets from the Payson family in January of 1980.