Steven A. Cohen

Cohen was born in Great Neck, New York, one of eight children of a piano teacher and a garment manufacturer.⁠[1]

He graduated from the Wharton SchoolWharton SchoolThe Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania. Established through Joseph Wharton’s gift in 1881, it offers undergraduate, MBA, doctoral and executive education.Open the full entry of the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania, commonly called Penn, is a private research university and Ivy League member in Philadelphia. It traces its origins to a 1740 charity-school project; Benjamin Franklin proposed his academy in 1749, classes began in 1751, and a 1791 merger established the institution under its present name. Penn has 12 schools, with undergraduate education concentrated in arts and sciences, engineering, nursing and Wharton. Enrollment totaled 29,384 in fall 2025, and the fiscal 2025 endowment was $24.81 billion. As of October 2026, J. Larry Jameson was president, with his term scheduled to end on June 30, 2027.Open the full entry with a BS in economics.⁠[2]

After graduating in 1978, Cohen joined the securities firm Gruntal & Co. as a junior trader.⁠[1]

He managed proprietary capital at Gruntal & Co. for 14 years before founding his own investment business.⁠[2]

In 1992 Cohen founded the hedge fund firm S.A.C. Capital Advisors.⁠[2]

SAC returned 70% in each of 1998 and 1999, and 70% again in 2000.⁠[1]

In 2001 Cohen and his wife, Alexandra, co-founded the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, whose areas of focus include research on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.⁠[2]

On November 4, 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced a guilty plea agreement with the SAC companies. Charged with securities fraud and wire fraud in connection with a large-scale insider trading scheme, the companies agreed to plead guilty to all counts in which they were charged.⁠[3]

The agreement imposed a $1.8 billion financial penalty on the SAC companies, comprising a $900 million criminal fine and a $900 million forfeiture judgment, with credit for the $616 million the companies had already agreed to pay the SEC. The SAC companies were to stop accepting third-party investor funds, terminate operations as an investment adviser, and serve five-year terms of probation. The agreement included no admissions pertaining to individual defendants and gave no individual immunity from prosecution.⁠[3]

The court accepted the SAC companies’ guilty pleas on November 8, 2013.⁠[4]

In 2014 Cohen converted his investment operations to the Point72 Asset Management family office.⁠[2]

On April 10, 2014, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain sentenced the SAC companies to a $900 million criminal fine and five years of probation, and required the SAC hedge fund to pay an additional $1.184 billion financial penalty and end its investment advisory business.⁠[4]

In 2015 Cohen created the Cohen Veterans Network, which supports mental health care for veterans.⁠[2]

On January 8, 2016, the SEC announced that Cohen had settled charges that he failed reasonably to supervise former portfolio manager Mathew Martoma. The SEC’s order found that Martoma engaged in insider trading in 2008 and that Cohen ignored red flags that should have prompted him to act promptly; the resulting trades produced profits and avoided losses of approximately $275 million for Cohen’s hedge funds. Cohen neither admitted nor denied the finding that he failed reasonably to supervise Martoma.⁠[5]

The settlement barred Cohen from serving in a supervisory role at any broker, dealer or investment adviser until 2018, subjected his family office firms to on-site SEC examinations and periodic reviews by an independent consultant, and required any registered firm where he took a supervisory role in 2018 or 2019 to retain an independent consultant through December 31, 2019.⁠[5]

In 2018 Point72 became a registered investment adviser and began accepting outside capital.⁠[2]

In November 2020 Cohen closed a record $2.4 billion purchase of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, in which he already held an 8 percent stake. He announced plans to hire former general manager Sandy Alderson as team president, replacing Jeff Wilpon.⁠[6]

Cohen said in a statement, “This is a significant milestone in the history of this storied franchise.”⁠[6]

The Hard Rock Metropolitan Park project is located at Willets Point, Queens, New York City. On September 30, 2025, the Community Advisory Committee voted 6–0 to advance the proposal to the Gaming Facility Location Board; on December 1 the board unanimously selected the project for licensure; and on December 15 the New York State Gaming Commission unanimously approved issuing it a commercial casino license.⁠[7]

The $8 billion casino project, planned by Cohen with Hard Rock International next to Citi Field, carries an upfront licensing fee of $500 million for each license recipient and a further $500 million capital commitment. Cohen said, “Since the day I bought the team, the community and Mets fans have made it clear to me that we can and should do better with the area around the ballpark.”⁠[8]

ForbesForbesForbes is an American business media brand that began with Forbes magazine, founded by B.C. Forbes in 1917. It is known for rankings such as the Forbes 400, the World’s Billionaires list and 30 Under 30, and operates Forbes.com, ForbesLive events and licensed editions in 81 countries. Since 2014 a majority stake has been held by the Hong Kong investment group Integrated Whale Media; a 2021 plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange through a special purpose acquisition company was terminated in 2022. It is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.Open the full entry’ real-time billionaires ranking estimated Cohen’s net worth at $26.7 billion as of October 31, 2026, ranking him No. 90 in the world that day; Forbes lists the source of his wealth as hedge funds and classifies him as self-made. He lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.⁠[9]

Cohen also drew on his public markets career to found Point72 Private Investments, which includes global venture capital and growth equity strategies.⁠[2]

Cohen serves on the Emeritus Board of the Robin Hood Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Forbes estimates that he has given more than $1 billion to philanthropy, including veterans’ causes and children’s health.⁠[2][9]

He has been collecting art since 2000.⁠[1]

Point72: Official website: https://point72.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[10]