Ryan Cohen Biography
Ryan Cohen is a Canadian businessman and activist investor who was born in 1985 or 1986. He started the online retailer Chewy in 2011 and served as its CEO up until 2018. Cohen now serves as GameStop’s executive chairman.
Ryan Cohen Early life
Cohen was born in Montreal to a Jewish household. He never went to college, attributing his decision to follow an entrepreneurial path primarily to his father, who owned a glassware company. In December 2019, his dad passed away.
Ryan Cohen Career
Cohen launched his first company at the age of 15, earning money from referrals to several e-commerce sites. Cohen, who is now 25 years old, founded Chewy in 2011 under the handle MrChewy. Cohen claims that his experience buying for his poodle Tylee served as his motivation for choosing the pet category. He names his father Ted as a mentor. Ted owned and operated a glassware import company. Cohen claims that he initially contacted over 100 venture capital firms in need of funding but was turned down by each of them.
Volition Capital provided Cohen with a $15 million initial outside investment in the business in 2013. By 2016, he had gathered money from backers like T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund and BlackRock. The business generated $900 million in sales that year and had risen to the top spot among online pet retailers. In 2017, he had raised $350 million and was getting ready to go public.
The biggest e-commerce transaction of all time, Chewy was acquired by PetSmart for $3.35 billion in April 2017.In that same year, Vox added Cohen to its Recode 100 list and Fortune named Cohen one of its “40 under 40”. After the takeover, Cohen continued to serve as CEO and ran the company essentially as a separate division of PetSmart. He increased revenue for the company to 3.5 billion in 2018 before resigning as CEO to pursue personal objectives and spend more time with his family. Chewy went public in June 2019 with a $8.7 billion valuation.
Along with two Chewy executives, Cohen joined the GameStop board in January 2021. Additionally, Cohen was named chairman of a new committee in charge of an organization-wide reform. Following a short squeeze, the stock rose by 1,500% in two weeks as a result of Cohen’s hiring, sparking a stock surge. Since then, Cohen has played a key role in a number of changes at GameStop, including the resignation of 10 board members and several executives and the appointment of numerous executives from Amazon and Chewy to leadership positions. Following the annual shareholder meeting, he was elected chairman.
Ryan Cohen Investments
Cohen purchased a sizable amount of Apple stock after selling Chewy, giving him the tech giant’s top individual shareholder with 1.55 million shares (6.2 million split-adjusted shares as of August 31, 2020).
Cohen announced a nearly 10% investment in GameStop in September 2020, making him the company’s largest individual shareholder. On December 17, 2020, a revised 13D filing with the SEC raised this to 12.9%. These documents state that Cohen’s company, RC Ventures, has indicated a desire to get more actively involved with the business in order “to produce the best results for all shareholders.”
In March 2022, it was revealed that Cohen, through his investment firm RC Ventures LLC, owned close to 10% of Bed Bath & Beyond. His company sold all 9.45 million shares of equity between August 15 and August 18. The gain was pegged at 68 million dollars.
Ryan Cohen Legal
On August 24, 2022, Cohen was implicated in a federal lawsuit for an alleged fraudulent conspiracy to artificially raise the price of publicly listed stock in Bed Bath & Beyond using a pump and dump. According to the lawsuit, Cohen and Gustavo Arnal, the company’s CFO, planned to publish “fraudulent and misleading SEC filings”. In a class action lawsuit, it demands $1.2 billion in damages.
Who is Ryan Cohen?
Ryan Cohen was born in New York in 1985, and he spent his childhood there. He taught himself how to code because he was interested in technology and computers as a child. At the age of 16, he dropped out of high school to launch an unsuccessful online advertising business. Later, he enrolled in the University of Miami, but left before finishing.
Where did Ryan Cohen go to college?
Cohen was born in Montreal to a Jewish household. He never went to college and attributes his decision to follow an entrepreneurial path primarily to his father, who was the owner of a glassware company. In December 2019, his father passed away.
How much did Chewy sell for?
Based in Plantation, Florida, Chewy, Inc. is an American online retailer of pet food and other supplies for animals. Chewy was purchased by PetSmart in 2017 for $3.35 billion, which at the time represented the largest acquisition of an e-commerce company.
How old was Ryan Cohen when he started Chewy?
Chewy (formerly known as MrChewy), which Cohen created in 2011 when he was 25 years old, was inspired by Cohen’s own experience buying goods for his pet poodle, Tylee. Cohen had Ted, his father, as a mentor and guide while he negotiated the business world. Ted managed a glassware import company.
Who is Ryan Cohen’s dad?
Ryan Cohen writes about his late father, Ted Cohen, in an article for Entrepreneur.com: “Everything I know — from empathy to the principles of making money — I learned by following in my late father’s footsteps.” We had lengthy daily conversations. He was and will continue to be my best friend, confidant, and staunchest supporter.
How many houses and cars does Ryan Cohen have?
In Bal Harbour, Florida, Ryan and his family reside in an opulent waterfront estate. After Cohen bought the property, a real estate company filed a lawsuit against a broker, claiming they were left out of the sale. Ryan’s auto collections are not documented.
How much does Ryan Cohen make per year?
He has amassed a net worth of an estimated $1 billion as a result of his prosperous career.
How many Endorsement deals does Ryan Cohen have?
There is no information available on Ryan Cohen’s endorsement agreements.
How many Philanthropy works has Ryan Cohen supported?
There is no information on Ryan Cohen’s charitable endeavors.
How many businesses does Ryan Cohen own?
Ryan established the online retailer Chewy in 2011 and served as its CEO until 2018. Cohen is the company’s executive chairman at the moment.Cohen has made investments in numerous additional businesses. Apple and Wells Fargo are a couple of the companies Ryan Cohen owns stock in.
What does Ryan Cohen invest in?
The initial investment Ryan Cohen made in GameStop in 2020 increased in value by 5,000% at the stock’s all-time high in January 2021. It is still higher than 1,300% today. Cohen hasn’t sold a single share of GME stock since beginning his original long position, despite the stock’s recent history of volatility.
