The Truth Behind the BBBY Pump and Dump Scam

BBBY Stock

The truth is this article was the most difficult piece I’ve ever published. I feel ashamed about what happened after my article went viral.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) was nothing more than a classic pump and dump scheme that lured innocent investors into losing their savings so guys like Ryan Cohen and Jake Freeman could make millions of dollars.

These scams rob regular hard working people of their life savings while millionaires and billionaires pad their pockets and search for the next stock to manipulate.

In fact, Jake Freeman is already doing the same thing with MindMedicine (MNMD) claiming he is an “activist investor” who cares about building long term value for shareholders.

I want to explain exactly what happened during this whole ordeal so investors can protect themselves moving forward.

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How Ryan Cohen Scammed Millions of Retail Investors

Back in March 2022, Ryan Cohen loaded up on BBBY shares and call options for his holdings company, RC Ventures, as stocks began crashing from the November 2021 market run.

Using his good name and reputation, Ryan Cohen posed as an “activist investor” by ousting the CEO, replacing 3 Bed Bath & Beyond board members, and tweeted about how he was sick of corporate executives getting fat salaries while neglecting shareholders.

But that’s exactly what happened when Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Gustavo Arnal sold his shares at $24 on helpless shareholders!

I was naive and believed that Ryan Cohen was looking to replicate his Gamestop success by saving Bed Bath & Beyond from bankruptcy.

Bed Bath & Beyond was experiencing declining sales and less customer foot traffic. The company had only $130 million in cash on hand with a $3+ billion in debt.

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When Cohen bought a massive stake in the company, I truly believed he would make the necessary changes to save the company by offloading non-core assets such as Buy Buy Baby and issuing shares to clean up the balance sheet.

However, all of my assumptions were false. Cohen only cared about using retail investors to line his pockets.

Ryan Cohen Filed a Form 144 to Sell After He Dumped His BBBY Stock

The worst part about the BBBY situation was that Ryan Cohen sold his shares before he filed the form 144. He had no intentions of saving the business and used a short squeeze to fatten his pockets.

The disturbing thing is my article prediction was 100% true. A massive short squeeze occurred between 10:00am and 12pm on August 16th.

Bed Bath & Beyond Short Squeeze
BBBY Short Squeeze (tradingview.com)

My article was published on August 15th at 10:37am. Was my article the cause of the short squeeze? It may be true since trading volume went crazy over the next 2 hours once my piece went live.

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Little did I know that Ryan Cohen was dumping his shares right after retail investors offered their support.

He began selling on August 16th and finished selling everything the next day. After he dumped his shares, Yahoo Finance released the details about his form 144.

The problem is the damage had already been done and thousands of investors bought worthless BBBY stock during the pump and dump.

Ryan Cohen Sold News Released
BBBY Stock Dump After Ryan Cohen Sold (tradingview.com)

The company cannot pay its bills and seeks a $250 million loan to reorganize its debts. How long can this act go on? It looks like Bed Bath & Beyond could be headed to bankruptcy court in the near future.

Jake Freeman Used Reddit to Pump BBBY Stock to Clueless Investors

Once the short squeeze faded away, Jake Freeman cashed out his entire stake for $110 million in profits.

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Jake Freeman BBBY Dump
Jake Freeman Dumped BBBY (tradingview.com)

Freeman created accounts on Reddit, a popular social networking site, to pump BBBY stock after he purchased his 5 million shares using money from friends & friends 3 weeks earlier.

He is nothing more than a scammer who uses social media for the worst purposes. Nobody should invest in any security attached to Jake Freeman unless you want to buy his shares at the peak of the pump.

Inflation Brings Out the Worst in Humanity

As the U.S. dollar loses value, I’ve witnessed humanity lose their honor and respect as well. 

Ryan Cohen had millions of loyal followers who respected and trusted him. He became famous during the 2021 Gamestop saga and won the hearts of retail investors.

It’s absolutely disgusting for him to use his popularity for profit and steal money from the average Joe.

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I truly hope the SEC investigates Ryan Cohen because he violated a lot of hard working people.

Don’t forget about Jake Freeman as well who used Reddit to pump his worthless shares. He should be investigated as well because he is already working on another pump & dump as I type this article.

Be Careful Who You Trust

From the 2008 financial crisis to the November 2021 market dump, I think a lot of investors have been weary about trusting Wall Street executives & board members 100%. 

I feel ashamed at what took place and truly learned to never put 100% trust in any character on Wall Street. 

There are plenty of good CEOs and board members but it’s becoming harder to know who to trust.

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This article is a warning to all investors to never invest money you cannot afford to lose. I’m lucky because I bought 620 shares at around $13 and got out at around $11. I lost around $1,200 in total.

But what about the thousands of people who bought at $20+ and literally lost a lot more.

I’m not an attorney nor do I know much about the United States legal system. I truly hope the SEC probes this situation and makes sure it never happens again.

I’ve been permanently scarred by this scam and warn investors to be careful in these markets moving forward.

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One Comment

  1. Wow, total BS. The real terrorists are Citadel, SEC, DTCC, and CNBC who pump and dump the market and need to blame others to continue their financial terrorism.

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