ToplineGameStop shares surged over 9% on Monday, a few days after the company’s CEO, Ryan Cohen, posted a photo of him alongside MicroStrategy co-founder and billionaire Bitcoin investor Michael Saylor, prompting speculation about the video game retailer’s cryptocurrency strategy.
Key Facts
GameStop’s stock closed up 9.6% at $27.15 after trading as high as 10.2% on Monday, marking its highest closing price this month.
The share surge follows a photo posted by Cohen on Friday, showing him standing alongside Saylor, a Bitcoin investor and the co-founder of MicroStrategy—the largest corporate Bitcoin owner.
GameStop has forayed into cryptocurrency in the past and established a now-defunct cryptocurrency wallet in 2022 that sent shares rocketing in the days following its launch.
Monday’s jump in shares helped GameStop’s stock recover from a February slump, though the video game retailer’s stock is still down over 16% in the past month.
GameStop and MicroStrategy did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
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Tangent
MicroStrategy’s stock closed up a little over 2% on Monday at $334.62. The business intelligence company’s shares are up 15% since the start of the year.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Saylor’s net worth at $8.5 billion following a $111 million increase Monday. Saylor owned at least 17,732 Bitcoin valued at about $1 billion as of August.
Key Background
GameStop shares are down 13% on the year after surging 85% in a volatile year of trading in 2024. The video game retailer’s stock has been a large player in the meme stock market over the last few years and jumped as high as $48.75 last year when Keith Gill, an investor who led Gamestop’s unprecedented surge in 2021, returned to the internet after going quiet for years.
Further Reading
MicroStrategy Isn’t Just A Giant Bitcoin Bet–It’s A Revolution In Corporate Finance (Forbes)
Before Bitcoin, Michael Saylor And MicroStrategy Took Another Wild Ride (Forbes)