For most of August, shares of GoPro traded for about 60 cents as the once-lauded action-camera maker faded toward what seemed like a near-certain delisting and possible collapse. But as September kicks off, the stock is soaring, at least compared with its previous levels. Shares were up nearly 80% at one point Tuesday as investors found renewed hope for the company. And it’s all thanks to a YouTube creator.
Mark Fischbach, better known to many as Markiplier, has bought an 8.5% stake in the company. For some investors, the move is evoking the early days of GameStop and Roaring Kitty.
“I saw the stock and where it was, I was like that seems undervalued,” Fischbach told Bloomberg. “It’s just something I’ve been cooking in the background; I want the company to succeed.”
That sounds a lot like the case investor Keith Gill made for GameStop before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in 2021. Gill acknowledged that the stock price “may have gotten a bit ahead of itself,” but argued that the struggling retailer still had a real chance to reinvent itself. “In short, I like the stock,” he said. “I believed—and I continue to believe—that GameStop has the potential to reinvent itself.”
Gill rose to fame on Reddit, though. Fischbach has a big head start, with 38.9 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, which focuses on video-game playthroughs and commentary, and a 15-year presence on the platform. He expanded that audience earlier this year when he produced and directed the film Iron Lung, which took in more than $50 million at the box office.
GoPro actually played a part in the making of the film, with Fischbach using the company’s cameras to shoot behind-the-scenes footage. Then he heard about the Mission 1 Pro ILS, which GoPro calls a “cinema camera.”
The company wouldn’t show him the camera at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show in April, so Fischbach began badgering GoPro on his YouTube channel, while also buying its stock. Eventually, he earned an invitation to company headquarters. He liked what he saw and kept buying shares, ultimately becoming GoPro’s largest individual shareholder.
Fame from a rough patch
Fischbach began streaming in 2012 at age 22. He was at the time studying medical engineering at the University of Cincinnati, but has since said he was going through a “rough patch” in his life at the time. He’d broken up with his girlfriend, been fired, learned he had a tumor in his adrenal gland, and been kicked out of his house by his mother.
He began playing survival-horror games on YouTube and quickly found an audience. He decided to drop out of college and focus on his burgeoning social media career. By 2017, he had been named the most influential gamer in the world by Forbes, topping familiar names like PewDiePie.
Just as he built his YouTube following largely on his own, he approached Hollywood in similarly lone-wolf fashion. He drummed up support for Iron Lung by asking his social media followers to call local theaters and politely request that they show the film. Ultimately, more than 3,000 theaters screened it.
His past business interests have been varied. He joined the board of directors of graphic novel publisher Red Giant Entertainment in 2014 and launched his own clothing line in 2018 aimed at gamers. He also co-hosts a podcast called Distractible.
And in 2022, he launched an OnlyFans page called “Tasteful Nudes,” with proceeds going to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the World Food Programme, “because if you’re going to quench your thirst, we may as well try and feed some people.”