<p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/6011ab5d6dfbe10018e0049a-1208/Ryan-Cohen-9645.JPG" border="0" alt="Ryan Cohen" data-mce-source="Ryan Cohen"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>One month ago, GameStop announced to shareholders that it would close more than 1,000 stores by the end of March.</p><p>Since then, the video-game retailer's stock has skyrocketed by more than 1,900%, with some 800% occurring in the past week alone. The company can thank a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/explainer-what-is-going-on-with-gamestop-stock-2021-1">Reddit forum, named "Wall Street Bets," for this massive rally.</a> The forum has more than 2 million members, largely committed to buying the stock at this point in time. (It didn't hurt that <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/gamestop-stock-price-elon-musk-gamestonk-tweet-extends-trading-rally-2021-1-1030009065">Elon Musk tweeted "Gamestonk!!"</a> during after-hours trading on Tuesday).</p><p>Redditors are posting screenshots of their paper gains from the rally, but the biggest winners aren't boasting online. GameStop's three biggest individual shareholders gained $4.1 billion combined since January 20, as calculated by Insider using SEC filings.</p><p>The biggest beneficiary from the stock surge is Ryan Cohen, the cofounder of pet-food e-commerce firm Chewy, who made a $76 million investment in GameStop last August. His 12.9% stake is now worth nearly $3.1 billionup from $352 million on January 20based off a price of $340.42 at 1:00pm ET Wednesday. The 35-year-old <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chewy-cofounder-how-he-created-multibillion-dollar-empire-2019-11">sold Chewy to PetSmart for $3.35 billion</a> in 2017, which was the largest e-commerce acquisition in history at the time.</p><p>Cohen also recently joined GameStop's board.</p><div><iframe title="GameStop board member stake growth: Jan. 20 - Jan. 27" aria-label="chart" id="datawrapper-chart-zoGcz" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/zoGcz/7/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="561"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();</script></div><p></p><p>The second-biggest winner is Donald Foss, who bought a 5.3% stake last February for about $12 million. His stake is now worth $1.2 billion. The founder of subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corp. has a total fortune of $2.5 billion, with his net worth increasing more than $660 million since market close on Tuesday, per <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/donald-foss/'sh=5dd050d23025">Forbes data</a>.</p><p>GameStop CEO George Sherman's 1.2 million shares are now worth $400 million. If stock continues to rise at this rate, he could be a billionaire in a matter of days.</p><p>Representatives for Cohen, GameStop, and Credit Acceptance Corp. did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.</p><p>E-commerce entrepreneur Attal Alain joined GameStop's board on January 10 just in the nick of time. His 125,000 shares, worth $4.9 million when reported to the SEC on January 19, are now worth $42.6 million.</p><p>Wedbush Securities Managing Director Michael Pachter has written off the rally as "a cult phenomenon."</p><p>"They don't currently have the earnings power to support a price this high," Pachter told <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/explainer-what-is-going-on-with-gamestop-stock-2021-1">Insider</a>. "The market appears to believe Ryan Cohen has a strategy that will take earnings up by a lot. I can't give him credit for his genius until I see what the strategy is."</p><p><em>[Editor's note: This article's headline was changed to reflect that Ryan Cohen's GameStop stock increased by $2.7 billion in value and is now worth $3.1 billion. It did not increase by $3.1 billion in value.]</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/gamestop-short-sellers-squeezed-losses-reddit-traders-army-cohen-palihapitiya-2021-1-1030006226" >GameStop short-sellers have lost $5 billion this year as Reddit's day-trader army squeezed their bearish bets</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/scaramucci-gamestop-saga-more-proof-bitcoin-will-work-skybridge-capital-2021-1-1030008556" >Hedge fund manager Scaramucci says the GameStop saga is 'more proof' that Bitcoin will work</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/gamestop-stock-price-outlook-forecast-93-percent-downside-bofa-says-2021-1-1030010889" >BofA warns GameStop stock could plunge 93% as weak earnings and skeptical turnaround plan will weigh on the business</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gamestop-shareholder-3-billion-richer-one-week-rally-reddit-chewy-2021-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/red-wine-good-heart-health-benefits-healthy-cardiologist-2019-4">A cardiologist revealed the truth behind red wine's health benefits</a></p>
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