The man that helped kickstart the wild ride that is the GameStop stock, Keith Gill AKA DeepFu--ingValue, bought more than 50,000 shares of the stock today. The mastermind has been holding 100,000 shares of GameStop's stock after buying up plenty of shares when they were dirt cheap at the start of the pandemic and seems ready to add to his growing profit.
The Reddit user had been outlining his plans for months online, many calling him insane in the process, but he believed it would pay off for him. He kept buying shares until eventually, GameStop's stock price exploded. The internet was in a frenzy, the plan was finally paying off, he could've cashed out, but he didn't. Many thought he was insane for not taking his millions and running, but Gill is still holding on. And now he's doubling down.
Today, Gill exercised GameStop call options worth $19 million (via Unusual Whales on Twitter) and went ahead and spent more than $7 million on 50,000 more shares of the stock, assuming he bought them at the lowest price today. Gill now holds exactly 200,000 shares, valued at over $30,00,000. As a Reddit commenter pointed out, if the GameStop stock hit $5,000 (which is wildly unlikely even under the best circumstances), Gill would become a billionaire off of GameStop stocks. Following the news, GameStop's stock is up over 3% in after-hours trading.
GameStop's stock rallied again in March, allowing an insane recovery after cratering into mid-double digits in February. The rise came after the struggling retailer began to listen to the advice of then-board member and Chewy.com founder Ryan Cohen. Cohen has been pushing to take the company into a new era with an emphasis on ecommerce, like Amazon. Over the last two months, GameStop has leaned into this and begun a full-blown transformation with top executives leaving the company. Cohen has also become chairman of the board and will be a pivotal player in the future of the company.
Whether or not this will work as well as Gill suggests remains to be seen, but Cohen is moving GameStop hard and fast. GameStop is reportedly looking for a new CEO and the company has already spoken with key candidates from the gaming industry and tech sector. The fact that Gill's wishes have come true so far and he is not only still holding out, but doubling down certainly bodes well. It's worth noting, however, that even if the stock goes into the double digits he will still be able to pocket tons of money since he bought so many shares at really low prices. In the end, no matter what happens to GameStop, it's almost impossible for Gill to lose.