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GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen bought another 100,000 shares of video game retailers on Tuesday, raising ownership to 11.9% as activist investors tried to push the company into e-commerce.
Meme stocks surged to about 20% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, after rising 30% during a regular trading session.
Cohen purchased these shares at a high price of $ 96.81 to $ 108.82 per share through investment firm RC Ventures, according to a regulatory filing. Currently, he owns a total of 9,101,000 GameStop shares.
Cohen was able to co-found pet supplies retailer Chewy and turn it into a booming business. Investors were used by GameStop early last year to chair a special committee formed by the board to support that transformation.
Shortly after his appointment, GameStop experienced an astonishing short squeeze that sent a shockwave across Wall Street. A group of private investors gathered in an online chat room to encourage each other to stack up GameStop shares and call options for squeezing shorts. Inventory increased by more than 680% and ended in 2021.
Just two weeks ago, Cohen unveiled a large stake in Bed Bath & Beyond and pushed for a turnaround. He wrote to the company’s board of directors, stating that household goods retailers are struggling to reverse market share losses and overcome supply chain problems.