Ryan Cohen

Last updated

Ryan Cohen
Ryan Cohen 2019 (cropped).jpg
Cohen in 2019
Born1985or1986(age 38–39) [1]
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • activist investor
Known forFounder and CEO of Chewy (2011–2018)
Executive Chairman of GameStop (2021–present)
Signature
Ryan Cohen Signature.jpg

Ryan Cohen (born 1985 or 1986) is a Canadian entrepreneur and activist investor. [2] [3] He founded e-commerce company Chewy in 2011, and was the company's chief executive officer (CEO) until 2018. Cohen is the chairman and CEO of GameStop. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life

Cohen was born to a Jewish family in Montreal. [6] [7] He never attended college, citing his father, who ran a glassware company, as his primary inspiration in pursuing an entrepreneurial route. [8] His father died in December 2019. [7]

Career

At the age of 15, Cohen started his first business collecting fees off referrals to various e-commerce sites. In 2011, at the age of 25, Cohen founded Chewy under its original name of MrChewy. [9] Cohen says his inspiration for picking the pet category came from his experience shopping for his poodle Tylee. [10] He cites his father Ted, who ran a glassware importing business, as a mentor. [11] [12] To grow Chewy, Cohen used Amazon’s guidelines for supply chain, logistics and the convenience of shopping online but added a focus on customer service, including hand-written holiday cards, pet portraits, and flowers for deceased pets. [11] In need of capital, Cohen says he originally approached over 100 venture capital firms and was rejected by all of them. [13] [14] In 2013, Cohen secured the company's first outside investment from Volition Capital for $15 million. [15] By 2016, he had raised capital from investors including BlackRock and T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund. [16] That year the company had $900 million in sales and had become the number 1 online pet retailer. [17] By 2017, he raised $350 million and was preparing for an IPO. [18]

In April 2017, PetSmart purchased Chewy for $3.35 billion in the largest e-commerce acquisition of all time. [18] Chewy’s value was credited in part to the company’s relationship with its customers, from handwritten thank you and holiday cards to committing nearly one sixth of its employees to 24-hour customer service. [9] [19] That year Fortune named Cohen one of its "40 under 40" [20] and Vox named him to its Recode 100 list. [21] Cohen remained CEO following the acquisition and operated the business largely as an independent unit of PetSmart. [17] He grew the business to 3.5 billion in revenue in 2018, including 66% of sales coming from customers signed up for automatic recurring shipments, [18] prior to stepping down as CEO to pursue personal goals and spend time with his family. [22] In June 2019, Chewy went public at a valuation of $8.7 billion. [23]

In January 2021, Cohen joined the GameStop board along with two Chewy executives. [24] Cohen was also appointed chairman to lead a new committee in charge of a company-wide transformation. [25] Cohen's appointment triggered a stock rally; within two weeks the stock had increased by 1,500% resulting from a short squeeze. [26] Since then, Cohen has been instrumental in a number of changes at GameStop, [27] including the departure of multiple executives and ten members of the board of directors, [25] and the hiring of multiple Amazon and Chewy executives in leadership positions. [28] He became chairman following the annual shareholder meeting. [7] [29]

On September 28, 2023, Cohen took over as Chief Executive Officer of GameStop. He is receiving no salary for his roles as CEO and chairman. [30] [31]

Investments

Following the sale of Chewy, Cohen made a significant investment in Apple, making him the largest individual shareholder of the tech company with 1.55 million shares (6.2 million split-adjusted shares as of August 31, 2020). [2] [32]

In September 2020, Cohen disclosed a near 10% stake in GameStop, [33] making him the company's biggest individual investor. This was later increased to 12.9% on December 17, 2020, through an amended 13D filing with SEC. [34] According to these filings, Cohen's firm, RC Ventures, has expressed willingness to get more involved with the company in order “to produce the best results for all shareholders." [35]

In March 2022, it was disclosed that Cohen had a near 10% stake in Bed Bath & Beyond, through his investment company RC Ventures LLC. [36] Between August 15 and 18, his firm sold all of the stock, totaling 9.45 million shares. [37] The profit was estimated at $68 million. [38]

Continuing his investments in GameStop, Cohen acquired 100,000 more shares on March 22, 2022. Adjusted for the stock split, this acquisition represented 400,000 shares. [39] On June 9, 2023, Cohen bolstered his stake in the company with a purchase of 443,842 shares, equivalent to a $10 million investment. [40]

Books

In 2022, Cohen published a series of children's books titled Teddy based on lessons he learned from his father. [41] He wrote "My father, Ted Cohen, and his lessons have guided me throughout my life. He showed me an exceptional work ethic and an unwavering commitment to delayed gratification. Even though he is no longer with us, his legacy will live on forever. By writing these books, I am sharing his values and passing his wisdom on to my children." [42]

Cohen was named in a federal lawsuit on August 24, 2022 for an alleged fraudulent scheme to artificially inflate the price of Bed Bath & Beyond's publicly traded stock in a pump and dump. The case was dismissed on June 11, 2024. [43] [44] [45]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed Bath & Beyond</span> American houseware big-box retailer (1971–2023)

Bed Bath & Beyond was an American big-box retail chain specializing in housewares, furniture, and specialty items. Headquartered in Union, New Jersey, the chain operated stores in the United States and Canada, and was once counted among the Fortune 500 and the Forbes Global 2000. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023 and liquidated all of its remaining stores, with the last closing on July 30, 2023. Following the retail chain's liquidation, its name was adopted by online retailer Overstock.com, which acquired the company's trademarks in a bankruptcy auction. The name is also still used by the chain's former Mexican division, which is now independent.

The Vanguard Group, Inc. is an American registered investment advisor founded on May 1, 1975 and based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with about $9.3 trillion in global assets under management as of May 2024. It is the largest provider of mutual funds and the second-largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the world after BlackRock's iShares. In addition to mutual funds and ETFs, Vanguard offers brokerage services, educational account services, financial planning, asset management, and trust services. Several mutual funds managed by Vanguard are ranked at the top of the list of US mutual funds by assets under management. Along with BlackRock and State Street, Vanguard is considered to be one of the Big Three index fund managers that play a dominant role in corporate America.

GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. As of February 2024, the company operates 4,169 stores including 2,915 in the United States, 203 in Canada, 404 in Australia and 647 in Europe under the GameStop, EB Games, EB Games Australia, Micromania-Zing, ThinkGeek and Zing Pop Culture brands. The company was founded in Dallas in 1984 as Babbage's, and took on its current name in 1999.

Contrarian investing is an investment strategy that is characterized by purchasing and selling in contrast to the prevailing sentiment of the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masayoshi Son</span> Japanese entrepreneur (born 1957)

Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. A third-generation Zainichi Korean, he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. He is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG), a strategic technology-focused investment holding company, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Williams (Internet entrepreneur)</span> American technology entrepreneur

Evan "Ev" Clark Williams is an American billionaire technology entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Twitter, and was its CEO from 2008 to 2010, and a member of its board from 2007 to 2019. He founded Blogger and Medium, two of the largest blogging internet platforms. In 2014, he co-founded the venture capital firm Obvious Ventures. As of February 2022, his net worth is estimated at US$2.1 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PetSmart</span> American pet supply store chain

PetSmart Inc. is a privately held American chain of pet superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors are Amazon, Walmart, and Target. As of 2020, PetSmart has more than 1,650 stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores sell pet food, pet supplies, pet accessories, and small pets. Stores also provide services including grooming, dog daycare, dog and cat boarding, veterinary care via in-store third-party clinics, and dog training. They also offer dog and cat adoption via in-store adoption centers facilitated by the non-profit PetSmart Charities.

Beyond, Inc. is an American online retailer headquartered in Midvale, Utah. Previously known as Overstock.com, Inc., the company acquired and adopted the name of bankrupt big-box retailer Bed Bath & Beyond in 2023. The company sells home decor, furniture, bedding, and many other goods that are closeout merchandise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workday, Inc.</span> American software company

Workday, Inc., is an American on‑demand (cloud-based) financial management, human capital management, and student information system software vendor. Workday was founded by David Duffield, founder and former CEO of ERP company PeopleSoft, along with former PeopleSoft chief strategist Aneel Bhusri, following Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exor (company)</span> Investment company incorporated in Netherlands

Exor N.V. is the listed holding company of the Italian Agnelli family.

Cloudera, Inc. is an American data lake software company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chewy (company)</span> Internet retailer of pet items

Chewy, Inc. is an American online retailer of pet food and other pet-related products based in Plantation, Florida. Chewy went public in 2019 with the ticker symbol CHWY on the New York Stock Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robinhood Markets</span> US-based financial services company

Robinhood Markets, Inc. is an American financial services company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The company provides an electronic trading platform accessible via mobile app that facilitates commission-free trades of stocks, exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrency, as well as cryptocurrency wallets, credit cards and other banking services. The company's revenue comes primarily from payment for order flow, net interest income, and subscription fees. The company has 23.9 million funded customers, 13.7 million monthly active users, and $130 billion in assets under custody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carta (software company)</span> American software company

eShares, Inc., doing business as Carta, Inc., is a San Francisco, California-based technology company that specializes in capitalization table management and valuation software. The company digitizes paper stock certificates along with stock options, warrants, and derivatives to allow companies, investors, and employees to manage their equity and track company ownership. The company also operates CartaX, a private stock exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vlad Tenev</span> Bulgaria-born American entrepreneur

Vladimir Tenev is a Bulgarian-American entrepreneur who is the co-founder and CEO of Robinhood, a US-based financial technology services company.

Colin Huang Zheng is a Chinese businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and former CEO of the e-commerce company Pinduoduo, which is now the largest agriculture platform in China. Huang is also the owner of at least three other limited liability Cayman companies, including Pinduoduo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melvin Capital</span> American investment management firm

Melvin Capital Management LP was an American investment management firm based in New York City. It was founded in 2014 by Gabriel Plotkin, who named the firm after his late grandfather.

In January 2021, a short squeeze of the stock of the American video game retailer GameStop and other securities took place, causing major financial consequences for certain hedge funds and large losses for short sellers. Approximately 140 percent of GameStop's public float had been sold short, and the rush to buy shares to cover those positions as the price rose caused it to rise even further. The short squeeze was initially and primarily triggered by users of the subreddit r/wallstreetbets, an Internet forum on the social news website Reddit, although a number of hedge funds also participated. At its height, on January 28, the short squeeze caused the retailer's stock price to reach a pre-market value of over US$500 per share, nearly 30 times the $17.25 valuation at the beginning of the month. The price of many other heavily shorted securities and cryptocurrencies also increased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stake (platform)</span> Financial services company (e. 2017)

Stake is an Australian financial services company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. It was founded in 2017 by Matt Leibowitz, Dan Silver and Jon Abitz. Stake predominately offers low-cost brokerage services to retail investors in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson Bay Capital Management</span> American Hedge Fund

Hudson Bay CapitalManagement (HBC) is an American multi-strategy investment management firm headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

References

  1. ↑ "He’s 34 years old and owns $550 million worth of Apple — so why is he hoping the stock gets hammered?" MarketWatch , June 27, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Matthews, Chris (March 23, 2020). "How the coronavirus stock-market rout dealt Chewy's founder a $150 million blow to his Apple holdings, for now". MarketWatch .
  3. ↑ Trentmann, Nina; Maurer, Mark (February 24, 2021). "GameStop CFO Was Forced Out as Activist Investor Pushes New Strategy". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Billionaire Ryan Cohen takes over as CEO at GameStop, adding to chairman role". AP News . September 28, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Biography - Ryan Cohen, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman". GameStop Investor Relations. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  6. ↑ Friedman, Gabe (January 29, 2021). "The Jewish angles to the GameStop stock saga, explained". The Times of Israel .
  7. 1 2 3 Kharif, Olga; Melin, Anders (April 26, 2021). "Ryan Cohen Maps Out GameStop Turnaround Plan". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  8. ↑ Friedman, Zack. "Chewy Founder Ryan Cohen, Who Sold His Company For $3 Billion, Shares His Best Advice". Forbes . Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  9. 1 2 Lima, Debora (March 3, 2017). "Chewy goes toe-to-toe with mainstay brands". The Business Journals. American City Business Journals.
  10. ↑ Verdon, Joan (June 14, 2019). "Don't Bet Against Pets: Retail Lessons From The Chewy IPO". Forbes . Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  11. 1 2 Verdon, Joan (January 26, 2020). "Ryan Cohen Started A Company That Took On Amazon, And Sold It For $3 Billion. Now He's Thinking About What's Next". Forbes .
  12. ↑ Cohen, Ryan (May 4, 2020). "The Secret Weapon Behind Chewy Founder Ryan Cohen's Success". Entrepreneur .
  13. ↑ Adams, Susan (January 10, 2017). "The Man Who Found Gold In Dog Food". Forbes .
  14. ↑ Dahlberg, Nancy (March 26, 2018). "What it's like to grow and sell a multibillion-dollar company, at age 32". Miami Herald .
  15. ↑ Cohen, Ryan (January–February 2020). "The Founder of Chewy.com on Finding the Financing to Achieve Scale". Harvard Business Review . Harvard Business Publishing.
  16. ↑ Zaleski, Olivia (November 22, 2016). "Your Dog Deserves an Oil Portrait With Her Gluten-Free Kibble" . Bloomberg L.P.
  17. 1 2 Armental, Maria (April 18, 2017). "PetSmart's Latest Bite at E-Commerce: Chewy.com" . The Wall Street Journal .
  18. 1 2 3 Gottfried, Miriam (October 1, 2019). "How PetSmart Swallowed Chewy—and Proved the Doubters Wrong" . The Wall Street Journal .
  19. ↑ Loizos, Connie (April 18, 2017). "A low-flying pet supplies company just sold to PetSmart in the biggest e-commerce sale ever". TechCrunch. TechCrunch . Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  20. ↑ "40 Under 40". Fortune . 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  21. ↑ Del Rey, Jason (December 6, 2017). "Ryan Cohen kept Chewy under the radar until it sold for more than $3 billion". Vox . Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  22. ↑ Dahlberg, Nancy (March 15, 2018). "Co-founder Ryan Cohen stepping down as CEO of Chewy, a homegrown success story". Miami Herald .
  23. ↑ Gonzalez, Guadalupe (June 14, 2019). "Chewy's Co-Founder and Former CEO Explains How the Startup Went From Zero to a $8.7 Billion Public Company". Inc. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  24. ↑ Sebastian, Dave (April 8, 2021). "GameStop to Name Chewy Co-Founder as Chairman" . The Wall Street Journal .
  25. 1 2 Gilbert, Ben (March 25, 2021). "Wall Street darling Ryan Cohen is clearing house at GameStop, bringing in e-commerce experts to transform it into the Amazon of gaming". Business Insider .
  26. ↑ Li, Yun (January 27, 2021). "GameStop mania explained: How the Reddit retail trading crowd ran over Wall Street pros". CNBC .
  27. ↑ Herbst-Bayliss, Svea (March 23, 2021). "From pet food to video games: inside Ryan Cohen's GameStop obsession". Reuters . ISSN   2293-6343 . Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  28. ↑ "GameStop shakeup rolls on, hires Amazon executive as chief growth officer". Reuters . March 30, 2021.
  29. ↑ Thomas, Lauren (April 8, 2021). "GameStop says it will name Ryan Cohen chairman". CNBC . Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  30. ↑ Fonrouge, Gabrielle; Calia, Mike (2023-09-28). "GameStop names Ryan Cohen as CEO effective immediately, won't receive salary". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  31. ↑ Soni, Aditya (September 28, 2023). "GameStop names billionaire Ryan Cohen as CEO in turnaround push". Reuters. Reuters . Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  32. ↑ Pendleton, Devon (June 5, 2020). "A Tech Founder Cashed Out and Bet It All on Apple and Wells Fargo" . Bloomberg L.P.
  33. ↑ Kharif, Olga (September 21, 2020). "GameStop Rises on Investor's Plan to Make It an Amazon Rival" . Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  34. ↑ "INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN STATEMENTS FILED PURSUANT TO RULE 13d-1(a) AND AMENDMENTS THERETO FILED PURSUANT TO RULE 13d-2(a)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  35. ↑ "INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN STATEMENTS FILED PURSUANT TO 13d-1(a) AND AMENDMENTS THERETO FILED PURSUANT TO 13d-2(a)". GameStop . September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  36. ↑ "GameStop's Cohen takes stake in Bed Bath & Beyond, pushes for changes". Reuters . March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  37. ↑ Rexaline, Shanthi. "Ryan Cohen Said To Be Under SEC Scanner Over His 'Sketchy' Bed Bath & Beyond Trades - Chewy (NYSE:CHWY), Bed Bath & Beyond (OTC:BBBYQ), GameStop (NYSE:GME)". Benzinga. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
  38. ↑ Melin, Anders. "Ryan Cohen pockets $68 million profit on Bed Bath & Beyond trade". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  39. ↑ "Ryan Cohen Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is, Buys 100,000 Shares of GameStop, GameStop Due Diligence • GMEdd.com". GameStop Due Diligence • GMEdd.com. 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  40. ↑ Baccardax, Martin (2023-06-13). "Ryan Cohen Boosts Stake In GameStop With $10 Million Share Purchase". TheStreet. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  41. ↑ Gottfried, Miriam; McCabe, Caitlin (2022-11-19). "GameStop's Ryan Cohen Wants to Be More Than a Meme-Stock King". WSJ.com.
  42. ↑ "Tribute". Teddy. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  43. ↑ Stempel, Jonathan. "Billionaire investor Ryan Cohen beats Bed Bath & Beyond shareholder lawsuit". Reuters.
  44. ↑ Mollman, Steve (September 4, 2022). "Bed Bath & Beyond CFO accused of "pump and dump" scheme before falling to his death from NYC skyscraper". Fortune . Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  45. ↑ "Case# 1:22-cv-02541" (PDF). The United States District Court for the District of Columbia. August 24, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.