In 2021, a group of retail investors congregated online and came up with a plan: Purchase a shocking amount of GameStop stock to prevent Wall Street hedge funds from successfully short selling. The story was a blockbuster news event and is explored in depth in Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga. The wild tale of the GameStop short squeeze is primarily told by a long line of amateur investors in the docuseries — some of whom made serious money off the deal. But what happened to them after the drama died down? We’ve got updates from Alvan Chow — arguably the man whose WallStreetBets post helped start it all — as well as retail investors Joe Fonicello, Abbe Minor and Matt Kohrs.
Location: California
Profession: Trading/investing
Earnings/Losses in GameStop: Around a 100,000% return.
I spotted Ryan Cohen’s involvement in GME very early and shared my prediction on how I thought the events would turn out. It turned out to be directionally correct despite it being extremely contrarian at the time. [I invested] roughly $10,000 to $20,000. I’m unsure of the exact amount, since I kept putting every spare penny from every paycheck into it. I’ve shorted a lot of names since January 2021, and still short until something in the credit markets breaks. [The experience taught me] to think for yourself — life isn’t about money, [but] don’t be naive. Don’t lose money.
Location: San Diego
Profession: Consultant at Wook Capital
Earnings/Losses in GameStop: Prefer not to say.
[I invested] everything I had [into GameStop]. My first purchase of GME was executed at $9.190 per share, when the market opened on Sept. 25, 2020. I began accumulating from there. My final purchase, before the squeeze on Jan. 11, 2021, was $20.40 per share. I was confident a short squeeze was imminent. Investing in GameStop for us original investors was never intended to be a populist attack on Wall Street. Sure, we all wanted to see these greedy hedge-fund shorts get burned, but we were equally greedy ourselves. We were just the little guys on the other side of the trade. While the media shaped a narrative that it was a populist revolution, at some point the trade got away from us all, and it became a brawl amongst hedge funds, not against. We were just along for the ride. And it was the best time of my life.
Location: San Diego
Profession: Owner of SunBuilt, a San Diego–based small business focused on designing and building Mercedes Sprinter vans into luxury campers, as well as a real estate investor.
Earnings/Losses in GameStop: Prefer not to say.
I was an early investor in GameStop, buying my first shares in late September 2020, at around $9 to $10 per share. I signed up for Robinhood specifically to make this trade after Joe (Fonicello) had first introduced me to the GameStop thesis. From there forward, I was a frequent lurker on r/wallstreetbets... [I invested] all of my savings at the time, outside of a thousand bucks or so to live on. Media attention can have a huge impact on the value of something. Never overlook an asset’s potential for media craze. We knew from the beginning that GameStop had this factor. Unlike largely boring stocks like those in the energy or health care sectors, GameStop has the capacity to resonate with almost anyone.
After completely selling my original position, I continued to anxiously focus nearly 100% of my attention on what the stock was doing. Although I made out really well with the trade, I couldn’t help but fixate on all of the “what if” scenarios. In retrospect, none of that was healthy or worth it. There are infinite opportunities in this world to make money, and day trading definitely isn’t my calling. After the stock frenzy settled down and the share price came back to earth, I reinvested a small portion of my earnings back into GameStop - not for the anticipation of any type of squeeze, but more so for the prospect of a fundamental transformation in the company.
Location: Pennsylvania
Profession: Market commentator
Earnings/Losses in GameStop: Currently invested.
In January/February of 2021, I went from being an unknown content creator to the largest finance streamer. I struggled to get hundreds of views, and seemingly overnight, it exploded to hundreds of thousands. I forget my initial GME investment — from the start of the craziness until now, I have more shares of GME and have traded options multiple times. [The experience taught me] that power in numbers should never be underestimated. I wholeheartedly believe that mankind has never made a vehicle more efficient at wealth creation than the markets. I admire the boundless potential that Wall Street represents. That being said, it’s not without fault. Transparency and fairness must be fought for and protected. With a fair playing field, discipline, and an understanding it’s a marathon, markets are an avenue to a better life.
