Chris Christie Is Working for Free for Steve Cohen’s NY Mets

Bill Allison and Gregory Korte
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made $2.4 million from his law practice and a consulting firm, but his gig as a director of baseball’s hapless New York Mets didn’t pay him a dime, his financial disclosure shows.

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Christie joined the team’s board in March 2021, according to the report released Thursday by the Federal Election Commission. That was a little more than four months after hedge fund manager Steve Cohen completed his $2.4 billion purchase of the team, which failed to make the playoffs despite having the highest payroll in Major League Baseball.

Cohen donated $3 million to a super political action committee that supported Christie’s 2016 presidential campaign, but hasn’t supported his current run for the White House, FEC records show.

His campaign did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment made after normal business hours.

Christie, who’s running as a fierce critic of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, is polling at 2.3% in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. He raised a mere $1.7 million through the end of June, and an allied super PAC has spent just $2.6 million on media so far, according to AdImpact.

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ABC News paid him $475,000 to act as a senior legal and political commentator, according to the disclosure, which covers about 17 months from the beginning of 2022 through Christie’s early June launch of his presidential campaign. He also reaped more than $400,000 for sitting on corporate boards, as well as $414,940 in speaking fees. The disclosure doesn’t list the names of organizations that paid to hear him speak.

His eponymous law firm paid him $305,000 in salary and a partnership share of more than $389,000. Christie 55 Solutions, which offers business and public policy consulting for corporate, government and trade associations, paid him $1.7 million. Christie didn’t disclose the names of clients of either firm.

Christie has a diversified portfolio, including investments in more than a dozen funds managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and equity stakes in technology companies like Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Nvidia Corp., energy giants including Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobile Corp., and defense contractors Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. Candidates list the values of their assets in broad ranges.

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