Viswa Vanapalli
Netflix’s ‘Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga’ is a three-part docuseries that looks at how GameStop’s stock price increased to astronomical heights in early 2021 after several investors appeared to follow Keith Gill AKA Roaring Kitty’s suit and bought shares in the company. At the time, the phenomenon was called a short squeeze, and this caused several hedge funds to lose money because they bet against the company whose stock price suddenly increased.
Joe Fonicello and Abbe Minor, young 20-somethings traveling along the west coast in 2020, also invested in GameStop, making money in the process. So, if you’re wondering where they might be today, we’ve got you covered. Let’s find out then, shall we?
Who Are Joe Fonicello and Abbe Minor?
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, Joe Fonicello and Abbe Minor decided to travel in a sprinter van. Until then, they had been living at home and commuting to their classes at the University of Connecticut. So, the couple used the money they saved to travel during the pandemic. At the time, Joe and Abbe were looking to make extra money while traveling and decided to try their hand at investing.
As per the show, Joe came across a post on WallStreetBets on Reddit by Alvan Chow. It was about GameStop and how the company’s stock price would go up in the following months. Joe believed it was worth trying out and decided to buy a few shares. By the summer of 2020, Keith Gill, another fellow investor, began posting on YouTube as Roaring Kitty and talked about GameStop being a good investment. Joe and Abbe were hooked to those videos right away.
In January 2021, Joe learned that Ryan Cohen, an entrepreneur, was getting three seats on the GameStop board. This prompted Joe to put in whatever was left of his savings into buying GameStop shares because he believed the price was about to go up. In the end, it worked out for Joe and Abbe because they first purchased each share at around $9, and as per the show, they got 40 times the return on investment.
Where Are Joe Fonicello and Abbe Minor Today?
Joe Fonicello and Abbe Minor continued to travel throughout 2020 and were featured in an Insider interview towards the end of that year. Abbe talked about how it was difficult for them to stay motivated for college while constantly traveling and visiting new places. She said, “[Classes] can kind of takes a back seat because you get so excited every day to go hiking or see a new place.” Joe and Abbe also dealt with the time zone difference and inconsistent wi-fi.
Joe has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and currently works several jobs. He has been a North American Online Distributor for alltech24 for the past two years. Apart from that, Joe is the Head of Operations for GMEdd.com, a website that keeps track of all the research that investors carried out before investing in GameStop. Furthermore, since August 2022, he has been contracted by Wook Capital, an investment fund, as a consultant.
Joe and Abbe are currently based in San Diego, California. Abbe has a bachelor’s degree in Real Estate and Urban Economics. Previously, she worked as a portrait artist, housesitting and dog walking service provider, project manager, and property management partner. In February 2021, Abbe founded Sun Built, a company that designs and creates camper vans with custom fittings, and Joe is the co-founder. The couple is active on Instagram and has continued traveling in the past few months.
Read More: Where Are Rachael, Mikey Guggenheim, and Derik Now?
