GameStop (GME) disclosed that CEO Ryan Cohen purchased 500,000 shares of the company at a weighted average price of $21.1174 per share. Cohen holds an aggregate position in GameStop (GME) of 41,582,626 shares, including warrants. His position works out to a stake of about 9.2% in the retailer.
It was five years ago this month that GameStop (GME) became the epicenter of the financial world with a stunning rally led by retail investors that flipped the script on some notable hedge funds. What started as an underdog bet on a video game retailer turned into a cultural phenomenon with a story so dramatic it ended up on the big screen.
The seeds of the GameStop (GME) saga were planted in mid-2019 when investor Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management acquired a stake in the company as a value play in a company that many had written off as a dying brick-and-mortar relic. Then in August 2020, Ryan Cohen, founder of online pet retailer Chewy (CHWY), revealed a 9% investment in the company, signaling that other notable investors also saw potential, despite Wall Street warnings. Then the retail trading community on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum took notice, including Keith Gill (Roaring Kitty on YouTube), who had a sizable position in GameStop (GME) call options.
Shares of GameStop (GME) were up 3.0% in postmarket trading to $21.93. Short interest on GME stands at 14.4% of the total float.