Ryan Cohen, the activist investor behind GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) made himself famous in 2017 when he sold Chewy.com (NYSE:CHWY), the e-commerce company he founded in 2011, for a record $3.35 billion to then-competitor PetSmart.
While not much is known about the personal life of Cohen — like his wife’s name, and even his age is disputed — we do know what his venture capital firm, RC Ventures is doing.
According to its website, RC Ventures is a seed and venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies in high-growth emerging markets. Most of the companies RC Ventures has invested in are located in Bangladesh and Thailand. Here is the list of companies Cohen's firm is helping to scale:
Pathao - On demand digital platform
“Pathao is the #1 Super App in Bangladesh & Nepal serving millions of customers with ride-sharing, food-delivery, e-commerce, & payments.”
Truck Lagbe - Truck rental agency
“Truck Lagbe is the #1 online trucking platform in Bangladesh. Nation-wide service, 24/7, inter and intra-city trips.”
Kludio - Food delivery
“Bangladesh's first cloud kitchen revolutionizing food delivery and kitchens”
TukApp - Food delivery
“Hyper-local ride-sharing, food delivery, and logistics platform in Thailand and Cambodia.”
Vest App - Crypto investments
“An app-based brokerage for Latam millennial retail investors.”
EndingScene.com - Animated & digital content
“2D & 3D Animation and Digital Marketing”
Outside its international investments, RC Ventures owns just two stocks in its portfolio.
Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY)
Number of shares owned: 9,450,100
Value of shares owned: $76 million
Percentage of stake: 11.8%
In a letter to the Board of Directors dated March 6, 2022, the activist investor showed his distaste for the then-strategy surrounding value creation, supply chain constraints, executive compensation, and the mishandled buybuy Baby brand.
“We believe Bed Bath needs to narrow its focus to fortify operations and maintain the right inventory mix to meet demand, while simultaneously exploring strategic alternatives that include separating buybuy Baby, Inc. (“BABY”) and a full sale of the Company,” Cohen wrote.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME)
Number of shares owned: 9,101,000
Value of shares owned: $1.23 billion
Percentage of stake: 11.9%
According to data from Benzinga Pro, Cohen initially bought 5,800,000 shares of GameStop in the first summer following the COVID-19 pandemic; an anticipatory play perhaps initiated by the country wide stay-at-home order and the rapidly growing gaming scene.
Cohen would buy more shares in various transactions until he had an 11.9% stake, and in 2021, he became chairman of the retail gaming chain, seeking to turn it into a specialized e-commerce retailer of gaming products, similar to what he did with Chewy.com.
Since joining GameStop, Cohen has overseen the resignation of various executives and ten members of the board of directors, as well as the onboarding of multiple Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Chewy executives into leadership roles.
Photo: Courtesy of Bill Jerome on Flickr
