The four-day week is upon us, hedge fund titan and billionaire New York Mets owner Steve Cohen told Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday on CNBC. The Squawk Box appearance
It’s not because workers are begging for it, or because studies confirm it improves work outcomes, or simply because it’s universally popular. Rather, Cohen—currently the CEO and chairman of his hedge fund, Point72 Asset Management—said the four-day workweek will eventually be possible because of the rapid spread of AI.
“I believe the four-day workweek is coming,” Cohen told Sorkin. “[With] The advent of AI, generally, we hear… people are not as productive on Fridays, and so I think that’s a phenomenon.
The idea of AI alone improving companies’ bottom lines is an enticing thought. Former Treasury Secretary and current OpenAI board member Larry Summers recently said that he thinks AI can replace “almost all” types of labor. But he’s also taking a more measured approach, adding, “I don’t think it’s going to be a productivity miracle in the next three to five years.”
Cohen made no such prediction. Asked when that change would come, Cohen demurred, saying it was hard to know. But he was quick to point out how he, whose net worth is close to $20 billion, stands to profit.
Investing in hobbies like golf — which will likely become more popular with his colleagues, if Fridays at the office disappear — has become his focus. If people have more time to themselves, “anything around… leisure, travel, experiences” will make for a strong investment area, he said.
To some, Cohen is best known for his eye-popping investments in sports. In 2020, he acquired 95% ownership of the New York Mets for over $2.4 billion, the largest sale ever in Major League Baseball. Last year, Cohen acquired the rights to a New York-based team in TGL, a high-tech golf league started by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods that plays in partnership with the PGA. In January of this year, Cohen—along with a handful of other billionaire sports owners—reportedly invested a historic $3 billion in the PGA Tour.
But whether a four-day workweek were not On the horizon, “I think I would have invested in golf anyway, because I think there’s a long-term mindset,” he said. Nevertheless, Cohen’s golf investment, he told Sorkin, “must fit into the theme of more entertainment.” More leisure means more golf rounds, he added. “I think the courses will be crowded on Friday.”
Friday’s holiday may not be such a big sea change. Those are already the busiest days in most offices. Steven Roth, the billionaire chairman of commercial landlord Varnado, said Friday is “dead forever” and some companies have banned meetings and deadlines after business closes on Thursday, after which productivity typically falls. decreases.
For good measure, Cohen added, just because some companies might implement a four-day workweek sooner than others, his staff at Point 72 shouldn’t start hitting their clubs. If his fund managers take it when the market opens on Friday, “that’s a problem,” he said. (Cohen is in lockstep with other Wall Street bigwigs who habitually oppose the modernization of a full-time, office-synchronous workweek despite the desire of their workforce.)
But hedge fund managers aside, “the majority of people will have a chance, I think, at some point, to have a three-game weekend,” Cohen predicted.
That already includes the Mets, who take on Detroit in a doubleheader at Citi Field tomorrow — and face the Reds in Cincinnati all weekend long.