Buyers expect a GameStop store to open at the Tysons Corner Center in Tysons, Virginia on November 27, 2020.
Hannah McKay | Reuters
GameStop concentrated on Monday after the brick-and-mortar video game retailer announced its succession plan as it tries to start e-commerce after a historic short release fueled by Reddit earlier this year.
GameStop shares jumped more than 8% in early trades, which would open at around $ 167.
The company said Monday’s CEO George Sherman will step down on July 31 or sooner with the appointment of a successor. The board is conducting a search to identify CEO candidates with skills and experience to help accelerate the company’s next phase of transformation, GameStop said in a statement.
Although GameStop shares have surpassed the record high of $ 483 in January, shares continue to rise 720% for 2021. To take advantage of the massive concentration, GameStop announced a $ 1 billion share sale in early April to accelerate its e-commerce transition led by investor activist and board member Ryan Cohen, who is co-founder of Chewy.
The company also hired Jenna Owens, a former executive of Amazon and Google, as the new chief operating officer.
Some investors also felt comfortable in Keith Gill’s decision Friday to double his GameStop bet, giving up on quickly earning millions of dollars in an options trade. Gill is perhaps the biggest influencing factor in Reddit’s retail crowd.
The investor, who goes through DeepF —— Value on Reddit and Roaring Kitty on YouTube, exercised his 500 GameStop call option contracts when they expired on Friday, giving him 50,000 more shares at a price of maturity of only $ 12. If he had sold the options at the price on Friday, he could have won more than $ 7 million with the bet.
In addition to exercising these option contracts, Gill bought an additional 50,000 shares of GameStop, bringing its total investment to 200,000 shares worth more than $ 30 million.
Gill’s trading information is according to his Reddit posts that appear to be snapshots of his investment account. CNBC did not independently verify the publications.
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