Retail investors and Reddit stock pickers are not the only ones benefiting from the rise in the stock market. The Reddit-driven deal boosted the wealth of CEOs and directors of long-struggling companies, and most of them did not take advantage of the soaring share price to cash out.

Ryan Cohen, 35, an Internet entrepreneur, bought a stake in PlayStation last year and joined earlier this month after encouraging the company to make a strategic change.$Game Station (GME.US) $The board of directors. Based on Friday's closing price, his stake in the video game retailer has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion.

$National Beverage Corp. (FIZZ.US) $Chairman and CEO Nick Caporela has a net worth of $2.5 billion more than he did at the start of the year.$BlackBerry (BB.US) $Its share price reached a level this week that could give chief executive Chen Shouzong a cash bonus of more than $100m. Executives and directors of PlayStation and BlackBerry sold about $22 million worth of company shares this month, according to InsiderScore, which analyzes insider trading.

Their share prices have risen wildly this month as retail investors hyped these companies on social media and Reddit forums. According to the latest data available, executives at these companies have not yet reported selling their shares, so their burgeoning personal wealth may be fleeting.

Last year, when Playstation's share price was below $20, Cohen bought about 9 million shares through his investment company RC Ventures LLC, accounting for 13% of the total equity of PlayStation. By the end of 2020, the stock had a market capitalization of about $170 million. If the income is stable, Cohen will make more money by investing in game post stocks than by selling online pet retailers.$Chewy (CHWY.US) $Make more money. Cohen, one of the co-founders of Chewy, sold the company to PetSmart in 2017 for about $3.35 billion.

Revenue from game stations has declined in recent years as more and more people download games instead of buying them in stores. By the end of 2020, the share price of PlayStation was $18.84. The stock, which traded above $482 this week, closed up 67.87% at $325.00 on Friday. So far, Cohen and the game station have not commented on the report.

Although Cohen did not sell shares in PlayStation recently, four of the company's directors chose to cash out on the eve of the rally. Between Jan. 13 and Jan. 15, the directors sold more than 900000 shares of PlayStation shares, trading between $21.22 and $37.71. Before the directors cashed out, the game station had announced that three directors, including the chairman, would not seek re-election at the company's annual general meeting.

The four directors of the game station cashed out a total of $20.1 million. But if you choose to cash out at Friday's closing price, the money will become $294 million. In other words, they made 274 million dollars less in just two weeks.

In some cases, this month's sharp fluctuations in share prices could undermine board efforts to link executive pay to performance. Abnormal market volatility rather than financial performance may allow executives to cash in equity incentives in advance. BlackBerry's previous contract with CEO Chen Shouzong took effect in March 2018. The contract promises a cash bonus of $90 million if the company's share price closes at $30 or more for 10 consecutive trading days over a five-year period. BlackBerry shares were trading at about $12.50 at the time of the contract, when Mr. Chen tried to steer the troubled company from smartphones to software.

BlackBerry has struggled to regain growth. In the first three quarters ended November 30, revenue fell 10 per cent from a year earlier, with a net loss of $789 million. The Canadian company, which traded around $5 for most of last year, breached $28 in intraday trading on Wednesday and closed at $14.10 on Friday.

In addition to the cash dividend, Chen Shouzong could receive a bonus of up to 5 million shares if BlackBerry's average share price reaches different targets between $16 and $20 over 10 trading days. As of Thursday's close, BlackBerry closed at an average of $14.77 in 10 trading days, according to Dow Jones Market data Group.

Compensation consultants warn that linking pay to share price triggers could trigger conditions for rewarding executives because of short-term market fluctuations. Mark Hodak, a partner at executive compensation consultancy Farient Advisors LLC, says the 10-day average price can limit this risk, but the longer the period, the better. "even if this is not the case, there are too many other factors driving up share prices that have nothing to do with management," Hodak said. "

On Jan. 20, three BlackBerry executives sold 131454 shares of the company at an average price of $12.63 to $13.01, cashing out $1.68 million, according to InsiderScore. If the shares are sold at the company's closing price on December 31, their money could be halved.

A BlackBerry spokesman said executives sold their shares at the time allowed by company policy. Mr. Chen didn't respond to media requests for comment, nor did the company respond to questions about his possible bonus or stock award.

Executives and other insiders who may know important but non-public information-for example, those who have financial data prior to the release of financial statements-are often prohibited from trading company shares unless they arrange the transaction in advance on a specific date or at a specific price.

InsiderScore research director Ben Silverman (Ben Silverman) said he was surprised that more insiders did not sell shares, given the cash-out opportunities offered by the boom. "maybe it would be a shame for these companies to tell them not to sell shares at this moment," Silverman said.

Caporela, 84, chairman and chief executive of National Beverage, owns 73 per cent of the soda maker, according to an analysis by securities filings and executive compensation data firm Equilar. As of Thursday, the shares were worth about $5.4 billion, up from $2.9 billion at the start of the year. Caporela built LaCroix into a soda brand with fanatical consumers. In recent years, he has launched a campaign against shorting companies' share prices and attacked the lack of transparency in short selling. He also criticized regulators for failing to address his concerns about short sellers in recent years. The billionaire has never sold his stake since he founded the company in 1985, according to people familiar with the matter.