GameStop shares jump after CEO retires, ‘Roaring Kitty’ raises stake

GameStop came together on Monday after the video game retailer announced its follow-up plan because it wants a brief push on e-commerce earlier this year.

Shares in GameStop rose more than 11% in early trading, starting at around $ 172.

The company said on Monday that CEO George Sherman would step down on July 31 or earlier following the appointment of a successor. GameStop said in a statement that the board is conducting a search to identify CEO candidates with the capabilities and experience to accelerate the next phase of the company’s transformation.

While GameStop shares surpassed the record high of $ 483 in January, the stock is still a whopping 720% for 2021. To take advantage of the massive rally, GameStop announced a $ 1 billion share sale in early April to e-commerce transition led by activist investor and board member Ryan Cohen, who is Chewy’s co-founder.

The company has also appointed former Amazon and Google CEO Jenna Owens as its new chief operating officer.

Some investors also took comfort with the move by Keith Gill on Friday to double his GameStop bet, rejecting millions of dollars in quick profits on an options trade. Gill is perhaps the most influential in the Reddit retail trade.

The investor, who goes to DeepF —— Value on Reddit and Roaring Kitty on YouTube, exercised his 500 GameStop call option contracts when it expired on Friday, giving him 50,000 more shares at a strike price of just $ 12. If he sold the options at Friday’s price, he could earn more than $ 7 million on the bet.

In addition to exercising these option contracts, Gill purchased 50,000 more GameStop shares, bringing its total investment to 200,000 shares worth more than $ 30 million.

Gill’s trading information is according to his Reddit posts which is apparently a screenshot of his investment account. The posts were not independently verified by CNBC.