Fueled by a massive short squeeze pinning Reddit traders against a storied Wall Street short-seller, a mindblowing rally in GameStop shares has minted a new billionaire in Ryan Cohen, an activist investor eager to forge a turnaround for the brick-and-mortar gameseller.
According to filings, Cohen—the founder and former CEO of Chewy, the booming e-commerce firm focused on pet supplies–spent about $76 million buying up more than 9 million GameStop shares at the tail-end of last year as he mounted an effort to restructure the Grapevine, Texas-based firm.
“Unfortunately, it is evident that GameStop currently lacks the mindset, resources and plan needed to become a dominant sector player,” Cohen said in a public letter to GameStop’s board of directors in November, blasting the stock’s dismal performance at the time—it was down 85% over the prior five years. “GameStop needs to evolve into a technology company that delights gamers and delivers exceptional digital experiences–not remain a video game retailer that overprioritizes its brick-and-mortar footprint and stumbles around the online ecosystem.”
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