YouTuber Markiplier becomes GoPro’s largest shareholder and the stock doubles

Mark Fischbach, the YouTube creator known as Markiplier, has become the largest single shareholder of GoPro after accumulating roughly 8.5% of the company, a position first reported by Bloomberg on August 31. The holding amounts to about 13.5 million shares and, based on where the stock was trading when he bought in, cost him an estimated $9.3 million.

The market reaction was immediate. GoPro closed the regular session up 46% at $1.37 and kept climbing after hours, more than doubling on the day, according to figures cited by Yahoo Finance. The stock had sunk to an all-time low of $0.57 earlier this year and was trading below the $1 minimum required for a Nasdaq listing.

The disclosure landed two days before GoPro ships the Mission 1 Pro ILS, a $699.99 interchangeable-lens cinema camera that Fischbach has been promoting in a 14-minute review on his channel, which has close to 40 million subscribers. He argues the product does for entry-level filmmakers what cameras costing ten times as much used to do. Fischbach told Bloomberg he simply thought the shares looked cheap.

Why it matters

Creators lending their name to a brand is routine; a creator becoming the biggest owner of a listed brand is not. Fischbach has form as an operator rather than a mere endorser: his self-financed horror film “Iron Lung”, shot on a budget of about $3 million, took roughly $50 million at the box office, and he has invested in Strada, a file-sharing tool for filmmakers. The GoPro bet fits a pattern of top-tier creators moving from sponsorship fees toward equity and ownership.

It also raises a disclosure question. Gizmodo notes that the review video, which carries an affiliate discount code, did not mention that Fischbach was about to become GoPro’s largest shareholder. The filing is a passive, non-controlling stake, but an audience watching a glowing product review would reasonably want to know the reviewer owns 8.5% of the company.

What’s next

GoPro’s fundamentals remain grim. Second-quarter revenue fell 31.3% year on year to about $105 million, the company booked a $51 million net loss, camera sales dropped 38% and the workforce has been cut by 23% this year. Management has warned of substantial doubt about its ability to keep operating, and the average analyst target sits at $0.50, well below the post-rally price.

Whether a creator’s audience can move enough $699 cameras to change that picture will become clear over the holiday quarter. For now, Fischbach has given GoPro something it has lacked for years: attention from the people who actually buy cameras.