Ryan Cohen
- Activist investor Ryan Cohen has notched a 300% gain on his GameStop investment.
- The Chewy cofounder spent $76 million for 9 million shares in the video-game retailer.
- Those shares are now worth over $320 million thanks to GameStop’s soaring stock price.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Activist investor Ryan Cohen has scored a 300% gain on his GameStop wager in under six months.
The Chewy cofounder spent about $76 million to buy 9 million shares in the video-game retailer last year, SEC filings show. Those shares are now worth more than $320 million, meaning Cohen has quadrupled his investment and made more than $240 million on paper.
Cohen paid about $8.40 per share on average – less than a quarter of GameStop’s $35.50 closing price on Friday. He bought the bulk of his shares in mid-August, then grew his stake to just over 9 million shares by mid-December, giving him a roughly 13% stake in the company.
GameStop’s stock price jumped as much as 17% in premarket trading on Tuesday, after soaring as much as 93% to a four-year high last Wednesday. The rally followed a deal between Cohen’s RC Ventures and GameStop to add three seats to the retailer’s board, including one for Cohen.
Cohen penned a letter to GameStop’s bosses in November, criticizing them for not keeping pace with the video-game industry’s shift to digital streaming, mobile, and gamers buying from mass retailers and online rivals.
The entrepreneur and his team also called for GameStop to conduct a strategic review, evolve from a physical retailer into a technology company, prioritize its most profitable retail locations, and build an e-commerce ecosystem.
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