(Reuters) – Investor Steven Cohen’s Point72 asset manager, a billionaire, has suffered a loss of nearly 15% this year due to a sharp rise in shares of video game retailer GameStop Corp. reported the New York Times nyti.ms/2YiotoW this Wednesday.
The losses of Point72, which manages nearly $ 19 billion in assets, came in part from its investment in hedge fund Melvin Capital Management, which had made a massive bet against GameStop, according to the report.
But as GameStop soared 700% in the past two weeks, driven by rising interest among amateur investors, Melvin faced sudden losses.
One of the lifeguards was Cohen’s hedge fund, which manages about $ 1 billion with Melvin, the NYT said.
Point72 decided to add $ 750 million, Melvin said Monday, in addition to accepting a $ 2 billion investment from Citadel, the Chicago-based hedge fund led by Ken Griffin.
Point72 declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
A spokesman for Melvin, founded in 2014 by Gabriel Plotkin, said the fund has closed its position on GameStop and repositioned the portfolio.
Reports from Juby Babu to Bengaluru; Edited by Arun Koyyur