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Billionaire Ken Griffin increases stake in Take-Two

Hedge fund manager's Citadel Investment Group now reports 5.5 million shares in Grand Theft Auto parent publisher; up from 3 million in October.

With hype continuing to mount around Grand Theft Auto V, billionaire Ken Griffin's Citadel Investment Group has increased its stake in Take-Two Interactive. According to a December 28 Securities and Exchange Commission document spotted by The Motley Fool, Citadel now owns 5.5 million shares of Take-Two, up from 3 million at the start of October 2012.

Citadel now owns roughly 6 percent of all Take-Two shares. Trading on NASDAQ for the game publisher closed today up 3.48 percent to $11.88 per share.

Griffin is not the first high-profile hedge fund manager to be attracted to Take-Two with GTAV on the horizon. Citadel's deeper investment follows that of fellow billionaire Carl Icahn, who disclosed ownership of 8.7 million Take-Two shares during November 2012.

GTAV is due out this spring for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and is Rockstar Games' most ambitious project to date. Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich believes the hotly hyped game could sell 25 million or more copies during its first 12 months.

For more on GTAV, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

31 comments
vivalatour
vivalatour

a billionaire can make a fool of you !

vivalatour
vivalatour

to make that kind of investment , even if stock goes up a little they can still sit on a pile of interest compounding with every penny !

tgwolf
tgwolf

Wow, sorry to hear that, Ken, I guess you miscalculated when you thought that was a fair price in exchange for your soul...

tommy_boy9999
tommy_boy9999

Looks like Take two might be for sale Shortly after GTA release.

 

h4xx0rz
h4xx0rz like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @tommy_boy9999  No, if that were the case, high profile investors would be selling shares and the share value would be going down.  They're anticipating good results, so they're buying shares now so that when the stock goes up from the good results, they make a huge profit.

WingChopMasta
WingChopMasta

This game will define Rockstar and the GTA franchise as long as they make it fun again. I loved GTA 4 but found it kind of boring.

 

To the people thinking that they can't sell 25 million copies without it being on PC and the Wii U. They could. Its a big big projection but it could happen and come on, how many people will actually buy it for the PC? Its a waste of time and resources to launch it for that format. They will wait until they are swimming in money to port it over and let you all freely pirate it without a worry.

 

Seriously though. I do have my suspicions that a PC version is definitely being worked on. Those screens look to damn good to be taken from a console unless they doctored them up a lot, same with the gameplay footage. GTA 4 was a muddled blurry mess on the console for the most part, however RDR looked great. Who knows.   

GhostOfSparta4
GhostOfSparta4

 @WingChopMasta I don't know if you noticed, but a lot of people are hopping on the PC bandwagon. And the screens don't look THAT good, I'm a huge GTA fan but c'mon, GTA has never been known for its graphics. 

 

Anyway, let's hope for a PC launch. This generation of consoles is coming to an end.

wexorian
wexorian

They expect 25 million even they Don't release it on PC and Wii u, What drugs they are sing can anyone tell me? :)

2bitSmOkEy
2bitSmOkEy like.author.displayName 1 Like

GTAV = already guaranteed success.

deon99
deon99 like.author.displayName 1 Like

I'm not suprised at the move, he didn't get rich by making dumb moves.

-HaloHitman-
-HaloHitman- like.author.displayName 1 Like

I cant wait until this bad boy comes out.

Brishon1
Brishon1

Just because a hit game comes out doesn't mean the publisher/developer's stock increases. Look at Activision. Since Blops 2 has been released, the stock has decreased, significantly so right after the game's release.

WarhawK-harris
WarhawK-harris

I've actually invested at least $125 into GTAV.  65 for the GameStop pre-order and 60 for the 120 gig HDD to install it on so I don't have to worry about swapping disks on my 360.   There's no way they'll be able to store it on less than 3 disks.  

franizarduy
franizarduy like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Im investing 60 bucks in gtav, and i think im gonna be rich!

This comment has been deleted

Brishon1
Brishon1

 @Gelugon_baat He's a hedge fund manager. His entire life is about increasing his value.

fatee
fatee

 @Gelugon_baat Who the hell doesn't seek greater wealth? What is your problem? And why does it matter if he likes games or not? Really dude. Give it a rest.

Crossel777
Crossel777

Don't sell your souls Take-Two.  

scroft16
scroft16

mafia car fuel refill= works! 

billlabowski
billlabowski

What a cheapskate. If it's a GTA game, you're safe doubling that, you'll triple your investment. Especially multiplat...hint hint, Rockstar.

Alucard_Prime
Alucard_Prime like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

With GTA5 on the horizon, I think I should take a 1 year sabbatical from work. 

wwervin
wwervin like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 6 Like

Wish I had a few million to invest in Take Two right before GTA V hits.

SolidTy
SolidTy like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Buy cheap, wait for huge hit, sell high. He doesn't care about the company, but he knows GTA is coming.

brokenapples
brokenapples like.author.displayName 1 Like

This guy is smart... as he knows the next GTA is gonna be BIG!!!!!!

 

Buy stock BEFORE GTA is released, and then sell it AFTER it's sales numbers are public!!! 

TheAgingGamer
TheAgingGamer

Unless I did the math wrong that means Take-Two is only worth about $1.09 Billion at current share prices. That's a bit surprising.

Epictacosam
Epictacosam like.author.displayName 1 Like

No doubt because of GTA V is releasing soon

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