Activist investor Ryan Cohen scores 400% gain on GameStop stock in under 6 months

• Activist investor Ryan Cohen has notched a 400% gain on his GameStop investment.
• The Chewy cofounder spent $76 million for 9 million shares in the video-game retailer.
• Those shares are now worth over $380 million thanks to GameStop's soaring stock price.
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Activist investor Ryan Cohen has scored a 400% gain on his GameStop wager in under six months.

The Chewy cofounder spent about $76 million to buy 9 million shares in the video-game retailer last year, SEC filings show. Those shares are now worth more than $380 million, meaning Cohen has quintupled his investment and made north of $300 million on paper.

Cohen paid about $8.40 per share on average - less than a fifth of GameStop's $45 stock-price high on Tuesday. He bought the bulk of his shares in mid-August, then grew his stake to just over 9 million shares by mid-December, giving him a roughly 13% stake in the company.

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GameStop's stock price jumped as much as 21% on Tuesday, after soaring as much as 93% to a four-year high last Wednesday. The rally followed a deal between Cohen's RC Ventures and GameStop to add three seats to the retailer's board, including one for Cohen.

Cohen penned a letter to GameStop's bosses in November, criticizing them for not keeping pace with the video-game industry's shift to digital streaming, mobile, and gamers buying from mass retailers and online rivals.

The entrepreneur and his team also called for GameStop to conduct a strategic review, evolve from a physical retailer into a technology company, prioritize its most profitable retail locations, and build an e-commerce ecosystem.

Here's a chart showing GameStop's astounding stock rally: