College Student Jake Freeman Earns 110 Million Trading Shares Of Bed Bath Beyond Memes

Comment A 20-year-old college student walked into Bed Bath & Beyond at just the right time, making nearly $110 million off the meme-stock favorite after its stock price quadrupled and before its most enthusiastic shareholder signaled plans to sell everything. Jake Freeman, a math whiz, had amassed a 6.2 percent stake in the struggling home goods chain in July. He bought 4.96 million shares at $5.50 each through a Wyoming-based holding company he set up. On Tuesday — a day when the stock soared above $27 a share before closing at $20.65, up 31 percent — he sold everything. The Financial Times reported that his fortune was worth more than $130 million at the time, netting him about $110 million. His timing was impeccable: Within 24 hours, an activist investor Ryan Cohen indicated he intended to sell the 9.8% stake acquired through his venture capital firm RC Ventures. It was Cohen’s interest in Bed Bath & Beyond that ignited online message boards like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, sending the stock price soaring. So when reports surfaced Wednesday afternoon that Cohen had filed a Form 144 with the Securities and Exchange Commission — a notice of intent to sell stock — the stock fell in after-hours trading. It closed Thursday at $18.55, down 19.6 percent, and fell another 35 percent after hours. Why Bed Bath & Beyond shares are up more than 350 percent this month Cohen has a devoted following among small investors because of his key role in the GameStop frenzy. In late 2020 and early 2021, traders on Reddit and other online communities snapped up shares of the video game retailer, looking to capitalize on a company that many institutional investors had written off. The stock jumped from nearly $5 to more than $480 — a stunning rise for a brick-and-mortar business in decline. The run-up fueled froth and volatility and the meme stock was born. Small investors joined forces and looked for other companies that Wall Street had shorted or bet on. The strategy described on Reddit used what’s known as a short squeeze, in which those who bet against a stock — usually hedge funds — are forced to buy shares to close out their position. Cohen founded the online pet food company Chewy and later became chairman of the board of GameStop. His plan to revive the video game retailer was boosted by an unexpected burst of online enthusiasm for the company last year, sending its stock price soaring and making it the first of many meme stocks. Others included movie theater chain AMC, smartphone maker BlackBerry and telecom company Nokia. Freeman attends the University of Southern California, where he studies applied mathematics and economics, according to the Financial Times. The report said he raised funds for Freeman Capital’s initial investment from friends and family. His LinkedIn profile shows he has interned at New Jersey-based hedge fund Volaris Capital. In a July 21 letter to the company’s board, he said Bed Bath & Beyond “is facing an existential crisis for its survival.” He encouraged her to stop burning through cash so quickly, restructure her capital and raise more funding. “Freeman Capital’s plan to realign it [Bed Bath & Beyond] consists of two critical strands: debt reduction and capital raising,” he wrote. The stock market is in bearish territory. What does this mean? Bed Bath & Beyond has been struggling for years. First-quarter sales were 25 percent lower than a year earlier, as the retailer posted a net loss of $358 million. It also has $1.37 billion in debt. When the stock soared more than 300 percent as it garnered online attention, Freeman jumped at the chance to liquidate his holdings, SEC filings show, selling $130 million worth of shares on Tuesday. Freeman told financial news website MarketWatch that he “didn’t expect the stock to take off the way it did,” adding that he now believes he has too much downside risk. “I expected that [Bed Bath & Beyond] better structured its balance sheet to unlock value. I felt at these high levels [the stock] it wasn’t worth the risk/reward.” According to the Financial Times, Freeman and his uncle Scott Freeman, a former pharmaceutical executive, have separately taken an activist stake in pharmaceutical company Mind Medicine, a New York-based company focused on drugs inspired by psychedelic drugs.

title: “College Student Jake Freeman Earns 110 Million Trading Shares Of Bed Bath Beyond Memes Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Andrew Amick”

Comment A 20-year-old college student walked into Bed Bath & Beyond at just the right time, making nearly $110 million off the meme-stock favorite after its stock price quadrupled and before its most enthusiastic shareholder signaled plans to sell everything. Jake Freeman, a math whiz, had amassed a 6.2 percent stake in the struggling home goods chain in July. He bought 4.96 million shares at $5.50 each through a Wyoming-based holding company he set up. On Tuesday — a day when the stock soared above $27 a share before closing at $20.65, up 31 percent — he sold everything. The Financial Times reported that his fortune was worth more than $130 million at the time, netting him about $110 million. His timing was impeccable: Within 24 hours, an activist investor Ryan Cohen indicated he intended to sell the 9.8% stake acquired through his venture capital firm RC Ventures. It was Cohen’s interest in Bed Bath & Beyond that ignited online message boards like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, sending the stock price soaring. So when reports surfaced Wednesday afternoon that Cohen had filed a Form 144 with the Securities and Exchange Commission — a notice of intent to sell stock — the stock fell in after-hours trading. It closed Thursday at $18.55, down 19.6 percent, and fell another 35 percent after hours. Why Bed Bath & Beyond shares are up more than 350 percent this month Cohen has a devoted following among small investors because of his key role in the GameStop frenzy. In late 2020 and early 2021, traders on Reddit and other online communities snapped up shares of the video game retailer, looking to capitalize on a company that many institutional investors had written off. The stock jumped from nearly $5 to more than $480 — a stunning rise for a brick-and-mortar business in decline. The run-up fueled froth and volatility and the meme stock was born. Small investors joined forces and looked for other companies that Wall Street had shorted or bet on. The strategy described on Reddit used what’s known as a short squeeze, in which those who bet against a stock — usually hedge funds — are forced to buy shares to close out their position. Cohen founded the online pet food company Chewy and later became chairman of the board of GameStop. His plan to revive the video game retailer was boosted by an unexpected burst of online enthusiasm for the company last year, sending its stock price soaring and making it the first of many meme stocks. Others included movie theater chain AMC, smartphone maker BlackBerry and telecom company Nokia. Freeman attends the University of Southern California, where he studies applied mathematics and economics, according to the Financial Times. The report said he raised funds for Freeman Capital’s initial investment from friends and family. His LinkedIn profile shows he has interned at New Jersey-based hedge fund Volaris Capital. In a July 21 letter to the company’s board, he said Bed Bath & Beyond “is facing an existential crisis for its survival.” He encouraged her to stop burning through cash so quickly, restructure her capital and raise more funding. “Freeman Capital’s plan to realign it [Bed Bath & Beyond] consists of two critical strands: debt reduction and capital raising,” he wrote. The stock market is in bearish territory. What does this mean? Bed Bath & Beyond has been struggling for years. First-quarter sales were 25 percent lower than a year earlier, as the retailer posted a net loss of $358 million. It also has $1.37 billion in debt. When the stock soared more than 300 percent as it garnered online attention, Freeman jumped at the chance to liquidate his holdings, SEC filings show, selling $130 million worth of shares on Tuesday. Freeman told financial news website MarketWatch that he “didn’t expect the stock to take off the way it did,” adding that he now believes he has too much downside risk. “I expected that [Bed Bath & Beyond] better structured its balance sheet to unlock value. I felt at these high levels [the stock] it wasn’t worth the risk/reward.” According to the Financial Times, Freeman and his uncle Scott Freeman, a former pharmaceutical executive, have separately taken an activist stake in pharmaceutical company Mind Medicine, a New York-based company focused on drugs inspired by psychedelic drugs.

title: “College Student Jake Freeman Earns 110 Million Trading Shares Of Bed Bath Beyond Memes Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-21” author: “Jerry Nelson”

Comment A 20-year-old college student walked into Bed Bath & Beyond at just the right time, making nearly $110 million off the meme-stock favorite after its stock price quadrupled and before its most enthusiastic shareholder signaled plans to sell everything. Jake Freeman, a math whiz, had amassed a 6.2 percent stake in the struggling home goods chain in July. He bought 4.96 million shares at $5.50 each through a Wyoming-based holding company he set up. On Tuesday — a day when the stock soared above $27 a share before closing at $20.65, up 31 percent — he sold everything. The Financial Times reported that his fortune was worth more than $130 million at the time, netting him about $110 million. His timing was impeccable: Within 24 hours, an activist investor Ryan Cohen indicated he intended to sell the 9.8% stake acquired through his venture capital firm RC Ventures. It was Cohen’s interest in Bed Bath & Beyond that ignited online message boards like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, sending the stock price soaring. So when reports surfaced Wednesday afternoon that Cohen had filed a Form 144 with the Securities and Exchange Commission — a notice of intent to sell stock — the stock fell in after-hours trading. It closed Thursday at $18.55, down 19.6 percent, and fell another 35 percent after hours. Why Bed Bath & Beyond shares are up more than 350 percent this month Cohen has a devoted following among small investors because of his key role in the GameStop frenzy. In late 2020 and early 2021, traders on Reddit and other online communities snapped up shares of the video game retailer, looking to capitalize on a company that many institutional investors had written off. The stock jumped from nearly $5 to more than $480 — a stunning rise for a brick-and-mortar business in decline. The run-up fueled froth and volatility and the meme stock was born. Small investors joined forces and looked for other companies that Wall Street had shorted or bet on. The strategy described on Reddit used what’s known as a short squeeze, in which those who bet against a stock — usually hedge funds — are forced to buy shares to close out their position. Cohen founded the online pet food company Chewy and later became chairman of the board of GameStop. His plan to revive the video game retailer was boosted by an unexpected burst of online enthusiasm for the company last year, sending its stock price soaring and making it the first of many meme stocks. Others included movie theater chain AMC, smartphone maker BlackBerry and telecom company Nokia. Freeman attends the University of Southern California, where he studies applied mathematics and economics, according to the Financial Times. The report said he raised funds for Freeman Capital’s initial investment from friends and family. His LinkedIn profile shows he has interned at New Jersey-based hedge fund Volaris Capital. In a July 21 letter to the company’s board, he said Bed Bath & Beyond “is facing an existential crisis for its survival.” He encouraged her to stop burning through cash so quickly, restructure her capital and raise more funding. “Freeman Capital’s plan to realign it [Bed Bath & Beyond] consists of two critical strands: debt reduction and capital raising,” he wrote. The stock market is in bearish territory. What does this mean? Bed Bath & Beyond has been struggling for years. First-quarter sales were 25 percent lower than a year earlier, as the retailer posted a net loss of $358 million. It also has $1.37 billion in debt. When the stock soared more than 300 percent as it garnered online attention, Freeman jumped at the chance to liquidate his holdings, SEC filings show, selling $130 million worth of shares on Tuesday. Freeman told financial news website MarketWatch that he “didn’t expect the stock to take off the way it did,” adding that he now believes he has too much downside risk. “I expected that [Bed Bath & Beyond] better structured its balance sheet to unlock value. I felt at these high levels [the stock] it wasn’t worth the risk/reward.” According to the Financial Times, Freeman and his uncle Scott Freeman, a former pharmaceutical executive, have separately taken an activist stake in pharmaceutical company Mind Medicine, a New York-based company focused on drugs inspired by psychedelic drugs.

title: “College Student Jake Freeman Earns 110 Million Trading Shares Of Bed Bath Beyond Memes Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-10” author: “Lily Legrand”

Comment A 20-year-old college student walked into Bed Bath & Beyond at just the right time, making nearly $110 million off the meme-stock favorite after its stock price quadrupled and before its most enthusiastic shareholder signaled plans to sell everything. Jake Freeman, a math whiz, had amassed a 6.2 percent stake in the struggling home goods chain in July. He bought 4.96 million shares at $5.50 each through a Wyoming-based holding company he set up. On Tuesday — a day when the stock soared above $27 a share before closing at $20.65, up 31 percent — he sold everything. The Financial Times reported that his fortune was worth more than $130 million at the time, netting him about $110 million. His timing was impeccable: Within 24 hours, an activist investor Ryan Cohen indicated he intended to sell the 9.8% stake acquired through his venture capital firm RC Ventures. It was Cohen’s interest in Bed Bath & Beyond that ignited online message boards like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, sending the stock price soaring. So when reports surfaced Wednesday afternoon that Cohen had filed a Form 144 with the Securities and Exchange Commission — a notice of intent to sell stock — the stock fell in after-hours trading. It closed Thursday at $18.55, down 19.6 percent, and fell another 35 percent after hours. Why Bed Bath & Beyond shares are up more than 350 percent this month Cohen has a devoted following among small investors because of his key role in the GameStop frenzy. In late 2020 and early 2021, traders on Reddit and other online communities snapped up shares of the video game retailer, looking to capitalize on a company that many institutional investors had written off. The stock jumped from nearly $5 to more than $480 — a stunning rise for a brick-and-mortar business in decline. The run-up fueled froth and volatility and the meme stock was born. Small investors joined forces and looked for other companies that Wall Street had shorted or bet on. The strategy described on Reddit used what’s known as a short squeeze, in which those who bet against a stock — usually hedge funds — are forced to buy shares to close out their position. Cohen founded the online pet food company Chewy and later became chairman of the board of GameStop. His plan to revive the video game retailer was boosted by an unexpected burst of online enthusiasm for the company last year, sending its stock price soaring and making it the first of many meme stocks. Others included movie theater chain AMC, smartphone maker BlackBerry and telecom company Nokia. Freeman attends the University of Southern California, where he studies applied mathematics and economics, according to the Financial Times. The report said he raised funds for Freeman Capital’s initial investment from friends and family. His LinkedIn profile shows he has interned at New Jersey-based hedge fund Volaris Capital. In a July 21 letter to the company’s board, he said Bed Bath & Beyond “is facing an existential crisis for its survival.” He encouraged her to stop burning through cash so quickly, restructure her capital and raise more funding. “Freeman Capital’s plan to realign it [Bed Bath & Beyond] consists of two critical strands: debt reduction and capital raising,” he wrote. The stock market is in bearish territory. What does this mean? Bed Bath & Beyond has been struggling for years. First-quarter sales were 25 percent lower than a year earlier, as the retailer posted a net loss of $358 million. It also has $1.37 billion in debt. When the stock soared more than 300 percent as it garnered online attention, Freeman jumped at the chance to liquidate his holdings, SEC filings show, selling $130 million worth of shares on Tuesday. Freeman told financial news website MarketWatch that he “didn’t expect the stock to take off the way it did,” adding that he now believes he has too much downside risk. “I expected that [Bed Bath & Beyond] better structured its balance sheet to unlock value. I felt at these high levels [the stock] it wasn’t worth the risk/reward.” According to the Financial Times, Freeman and his uncle Scott Freeman, a former pharmaceutical executive, have separately taken an activist stake in pharmaceutical company Mind Medicine, a New York-based company focused on drugs inspired by psychedelic drugs.

title: “College Student Jake Freeman Earns 110 Million Trading Shares Of Bed Bath Beyond Memes Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “Richard Fields”

Comment A 20-year-old college student walked into Bed Bath & Beyond at just the right time, making nearly $110 million off the meme-stock favorite after its stock price quadrupled and before its most enthusiastic shareholder signaled plans to sell everything. Jake Freeman, a math whiz, had amassed a 6.2 percent stake in the struggling home goods chain in July. He bought 4.96 million shares at $5.50 each through a Wyoming-based holding company he set up. On Tuesday — a day when the stock soared above $27 a share before closing at $20.65, up 31 percent — he sold everything. The Financial Times reported that his fortune was worth more than $130 million at the time, netting him about $110 million. His timing was impeccable: Within 24 hours, an activist investor Ryan Cohen indicated he intended to sell the 9.8% stake acquired through his venture capital firm RC Ventures. It was Cohen’s interest in Bed Bath & Beyond that ignited online message boards like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, sending the stock price soaring. So when reports surfaced Wednesday afternoon that Cohen had filed a Form 144 with the Securities and Exchange Commission — a notice of intent to sell stock — the stock fell in after-hours trading. It closed Thursday at $18.55, down 19.6 percent, and fell another 35 percent after hours. Why Bed Bath & Beyond shares are up more than 350 percent this month Cohen has a devoted following among small investors because of his key role in the GameStop frenzy. In late 2020 and early 2021, traders on Reddit and other online communities snapped up shares of the video game retailer, looking to capitalize on a company that many institutional investors had written off. The stock jumped from nearly $5 to more than $480 — a stunning rise for a brick-and-mortar business in decline. The run-up fueled froth and volatility and the meme stock was born. Small investors joined forces and looked for other companies that Wall Street had shorted or bet on. The strategy described on Reddit used what’s known as a short squeeze, in which those who bet against a stock — usually hedge funds — are forced to buy shares to close out their position. Cohen founded the online pet food company Chewy and later became chairman of the board of GameStop. His plan to revive the video game retailer was boosted by an unexpected burst of online enthusiasm for the company last year, sending its stock price soaring and making it the first of many meme stocks. Others included movie theater chain AMC, smartphone maker BlackBerry and telecom company Nokia. Freeman attends the University of Southern California, where he studies applied mathematics and economics, according to the Financial Times. The report said he raised funds for Freeman Capital’s initial investment from friends and family. His LinkedIn profile shows he has interned at New Jersey-based hedge fund Volaris Capital. In a July 21 letter to the company’s board, he said Bed Bath & Beyond “is facing an existential crisis for its survival.” He encouraged her to stop burning through cash so quickly, restructure her capital and raise more funding. “Freeman Capital’s plan to realign it [Bed Bath & Beyond] consists of two critical strands: debt reduction and capital raising,” he wrote. The stock market is in bearish territory. What does this mean? Bed Bath & Beyond has been struggling for years. First-quarter sales were 25 percent lower than a year earlier, as the retailer posted a net loss of $358 million. It also has $1.37 billion in debt. When the stock soared more than 300 percent as it garnered online attention, Freeman jumped at the chance to liquidate his holdings, SEC filings show, selling $130 million worth of shares on Tuesday. Freeman told financial news website MarketWatch that he “didn’t expect the stock to take off the way it did,” adding that he now believes he has too much downside risk. “I expected that [Bed Bath & Beyond] better structured its balance sheet to unlock value. I felt at these high levels [the stock] it wasn’t worth the risk/reward.” According to the Financial Times, Freeman and his uncle Scott Freeman, a former pharmaceutical executive, have separately taken an activist stake in pharmaceutical company Mind Medicine, a New York-based company focused on drugs inspired by psychedelic drugs.