Ryan Cohen scoops up 100,000 more shares of GameStop, meme stock soars as much as 20% after hours

GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen just bought another 100,000 shares of the video game retailer on Tuesday, bringing his ownership to 11.9% as the activist investor tries to push the company into e-commerce.

The meme stock jumped as high as about 20% in after-hours trading Tuesday after a 30% rally during the regular trading session. Shares were up about 13.7% in premarket trading on Wednesday morning.

Cohen purchased these shares through his investment company RC Ventures at a cost as low as $96.81 and as high as $108.82 apiece, according to a regulatory filing. Now he owns a total of 9,101,000 GameStop shares.

Cohen cofounded pet-supply retailer Chewy and managed to turn it into a booming business. The investor was tapped by GameStop early last year to serve as chairman of a special committee formed by its board to help its transformation.

Soon after his appointment, GameStop experienced a jaw-dropping short squeeze that sent shockwaves across Wall Street. A band of retail investors came together in online chatrooms, encouraging one another to pile into GameStop’s stock and call options to squeeze out short sellers. The stock ended 2021 up more than 680%.

Just two weeks ago, Cohen revealed a big stake in Bed Bath & Beyond and pushed for a turnaround. He wrote a letter to the company board, saying the housewares retailer is struggling to reverse market share losses and navigate supply chain woes.