Steven Cohen’s Point72 fund suffers 15% loss in GameStop frenzy: NYT

(Reuters) – Billionaire investor Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management suffered a loss of nearly 15% this year due to a sudden rise in shares of video game retailer GameStop Corp, The New York Times reported Wednesday nyti .ms / 2YiotoW.

The losses at Point72, which manages nearly $ 19 billion in assets, stem in part from its investment in hedge fund Melvin Capital Management, which had made a massive bet against GameStop, the report said.

But as GameStop has climbed 700% over the past two weeks, spurred by increased interest from amateur investors, Melvin has suffered sudden losses.

One of the rescuers was Cohen’s hedge fund, which has around $ 1 billion under management with Melvin, NYT said.

Point72 decided to add $ 750 million, Melvin said Monday, in addition to accepting a $ 2 billion investment from Citadel, the Chicago-based hedge fund led by Ken Griffin.

Point72 declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

A spokesperson for Melvin, founded in 2014 by Gabriel Plotkin, said the fund has closed its position in GameStop and repositioned the portfolio.