GameStop’s Surge Gives Chewy Co-Founder Cohen a 1,200% Gain

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A customer browses merchandise at a GameStop store in Chicago. Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg
A customer browses merchandise at a GameStop store in Chicago. Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- GameStop Corp.’s remarkable surge has left investor Ryan Cohen sitting on a 1,200% gain.

Cohen, a Chewy Inc. co-founder, disclosed an investment in GameStop in August. By December he’d purchased 9 million shares in the retailer for a total cost of $76 million. Earlier this month, GameStop announced that he and two other former Chewy colleagues would be joining the board, triggering a jump in the company’s share price.

Cohen’s 13% stake was valued at $987 million at 11:20 a.m. as GameStop shares hit $109.70 in New York trading. The stock has surged from a low of $10.47 a share in October, fueled by a short squeeze ignited in chat rooms.

Read more: GameStop Continues Meltup, Leaving Price Targets in Shambles

Cohen didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

It’s not the first time Cohen’s investments attracted attention. In June, he revealed that after selling Chewy for $3.35 billion, he’d sunk virtually all his proceeds into just two stocks - Apple Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.

“It’s too hard to find, at least for me, what I consider great ideas,” Cohen said in a June interview. “When I find things I have a lot of conviction in, I go all-in.”

Cohen, who never went to college or had what he calls “a real job,” grew up in Montreal, the son of a glassware importer. He sold the online pet retailer he co-founded for $3.35 billion in 2017.

Cohen said in the interview he has no real estate beyond the Florida home he’s lived in since 2013 and zero stakes in hedge funds, private equity, or venture capital funds. He’s been driving the same car for years.

“I try to keep my life as simple as possible,” he said.