Quick Answer: YouTuber Mark Fischbach, known as Markiplier, became GoPro’s largest single shareholder after quietly building an 8.5% stake (roughly 13.5 million Class A shares) between July and August 2026. When Bloomberg reported the stake on Sunday, August 31, GoPro’s stock jumped 46% the next trading day and another 55% after hours, a combined surge of more than 128%. The very next day, September 1, GoPro announced a $285 million merger with Starman Optical, a maker of optical transceivers for AI data centers — pushing the stock even higher but raising real questions about GoPro’s future as a camera company. Fischbach says he had no advance knowledge of the merger, has not sold any shares, and describes himself as “genuinely sad” about what the deal could mean for GoPro’s camera business.
Key Takeaways
- Fischbach’s stake, disclosed in an SEC Schedule 13G filed August 20, 2026, represents 8.5% of GoPro’s Class A common stock, worth roughly $9-9.3 million at the time of purchase.
- GoPro’s stock had fallen 91-93.6% over the prior five years before the announcement, with the company cutting its workforce by 23% and its auditor flagging “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern.
- Fischbach says he began accumulating shares starting July 23, 2026, well before the news became public, and was not aware of the pending Starman Optical merger when he built his position.
- GoPro’s $285 million merger with Starman Optical, a U.S. optical-transceiver maker serving AI data centers and defense markets, was announced September 1, 2026, one day after the Fischbach story broke.
- Fischbach has not sold any of his GoPro shares and says he intends to vote against the merger, though he acknowledges his stake carries minimal voting power in practice.
How a YouTuber Became GoPro’s Largest Shareholder
GoPro has had a rough several years by any measure: second-quarter 2026 revenue fell 31.3% year-over-year to roughly $105 million, camera sales dropped 38%, and the company posted a $51 million net loss while cutting its workforce by 23%. Its auditor has expressed substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and its stock has traded below $1 per share for extended periods, putting it at risk of running afoul of Nasdaq listing requirements. Founder and CEO Nick Woodman has personally loaned the company money through stock purchases, and the board had reportedly been shopping the company around for a potential sale.
Against that backdrop, Fischbach — a YouTuber with tens of millions of subscribers who moved into filmmaking with his debut feature Iron Lung (which earned more than $50 million at the box office on a $3 million budget, self-distributed) — began quietly buying GoPro shares starting July 23, 2026. He filed the required SEC Schedule 13G disclosure on August 20, revealing an 8.5% stake, roughly 13.5 million Class A shares, with sole voting and dispositive power. The purchase reportedly cost him around $9-9.3 million. Fischbach has said he was drawn to the investment specifically by GoPro’s newer Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 Pro ILS cameras — interchangeable-lens models he’d already used and praised in his own filmmaking, comparing their image quality favorably to far more expensive cinema cameras.
The Stock Surge and the Timing Problem
Bloomberg published its interview with Fischbach about the stake on Sunday, August 31, and the story immediately took off. GoPro shares rose 46% during Monday’s regular trading session, then gained another 55% after hours, a combined move of more than 128% — pushing the stock to nearly $1.60 at its peak, the highest it had traded in months, though still a tiny fraction of its 2014 peak of $93.85 per share.
Then, on Tuesday, September 1 — one day after the Fischbach story broke — GoPro announced it was merging with Starman Optical for $285 million, sending the stock higher still. The sequence of events (a YouTuber’s stake becomes public, the stock rallies, then a merger is announced the very next day) understandably raised suspicions of a coordinated pump-and-dump scheme. Fischbach addressed this directly in a YouTube livestream, stating plainly that he had zero advance knowledge of any merger, that his share accumulation began weeks before the Bloomberg story ran, and that the SEC filing timeline (a process he says started July 23, with the filing itself dated August 20) was a matter of public record independent of the Sunday news cycle.
What the Starman Optical Merger Actually Means
Starman Optical makes optical transceivers — hardware that transmits data using light — for AI data centers, and the merger’s stated rationale has little to do with action cameras. Starman Holding CEO Charles Tebele framed the deal around reshoring critical hardware manufacturing: “Advanced optics and imaging are essential to AI, national security, and the broader economy, yet much of the critical hardware supporting these technologies continues to be manufactured overseas… Together, we intend to bring production of these critical components back to the United States.” GoPro’s own Nick Woodman described the merger as a path to growth across “consumer, commercial and defense markets” — a notably different framing than GoPro’s traditional identity as a consumer action-camera brand.
Fischbach, who learned of the merger at the same time as the public, has been openly conflicted about it. He says he supports GoPro’s consumer camera business unambiguously, but is far less enthusiastic about the company’s pivot toward AI data-center hardware and defense contracts. “If [GoPro] pivots away from making cameras, I’m not gonna be on board with that,” he said, adding that his only reason for investing was the cameras themselves: “It’s always been GoPro. They’ve just made cameras the entire time they’ve been a company.” He has stated he intends to vote against the merger, while acknowledging that his 8.5% stake carries only minimal voting weight in practice, and has not sold any shares as of this writing.
Fischbach’s Broader Concern: Retail Investors Following His Lead
Before the story even broke, Fischbach says he was specifically worried about the possibility of retail investors piling into GoPro simply because he had. That fear materialized almost immediately once the Bloomberg piece published. “I feared that me saying I am heavily invested in this company might lead people to invest in a company that is down 91 percent over the past five years,” he said. “They are really in the hole.” He has been explicit that his investment was not made with profit as the primary goal — “I did not invest for the purpose of making money in this” — and has repeatedly cautioned that his position was a high-risk bet he could afford to lose, not investment advice for anyone else to follow. Fellow tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee weighed in publicly as well, noting the unusual optics of a creator with financial exposure publicly reviewing a product from the same company, writing: “This is not a line I see crossed very often, but to each their own.”
What This Means for GoPro Customers and Investors
For existing GoPro camera owners, the company says it will continue to fully support its current consumer product lineup, including the Mission 1 Pro ILS that drew Fischbach’s initial interest. What happens to that product line over a longer horizon, once the Starman merger closes and integration begins, is genuinely uncertain — a risk factor worth weighing for anyone considering GoPro hardware as a long-term platform investment (accessories, subscription cloud storage, ongoing software support). For anyone tempted to follow Fischbach’s lead as an investor, his own repeated public statements are worth taking at face value: this was a high-conviction, high-risk personal bet on a company that had lost more than 90% of its value over five years, made before the merger news existed, and not a signal that GoPro’s underlying financial troubles have been resolved.
Related Technology and Consumer News
If you’re evaluating action cameras or gadgets more broadly with GoPro’s uncertain future in mind, our coverage of consumer electronics pricing trends, including the ongoing GPU price increases throughout 2026, is worth a look if you’re weighing hardware purchases in a volatile market. For a look at how other consumer tech companies have handled major corporate transitions, our coverage of the iRobot bankruptcy and acquisition covers a similar ownership-change story in a different hardware category.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of GoPro does Markiplier own?
Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) holds an 8.5% stake in GoPro, roughly 13.5 million Class A shares, disclosed in an SEC Schedule 13G filed August 20, 2026. This makes him the company’s single largest shareholder.
Did Markiplier know about the GoPro merger before buying stock?
Fischbach says no. He states he began accumulating GoPro shares starting July 23, 2026, and learned about the September 1 Starman Optical merger at the same time as the general public, well after his stock purchases were already underway.
Why did GoPro’s stock surge in 2026?
GoPro’s stock rose 46% during regular trading and another 55% after hours (over 128% combined) on September 1, 2026, after Bloomberg reported Markiplier’s 8.5% shareholder stake the day before. The stock climbed further the next day when GoPro announced its $285 million merger with Starman Optical.
What is Starman Optical and why is it merging with GoPro?
Starman Optical makes optical transceivers, hardware that transmits data using light, primarily for AI data centers. The merger is framed around combining GoPro’s optical expertise with Starman’s manufacturing capabilities to bring production of critical hardware components back to the United States, expanding GoPro beyond consumer cameras into commercial, AI, and defense markets.
Is Markiplier going to keep his GoPro shares?
As of this writing, Fischbach has not sold any of his GoPro shares. He has said he intends to vote against the Starman Optical merger, though he acknowledges his 8.5% stake carries minimal voting influence on the outcome.
Will GoPro stop making cameras?
GoPro has stated it will continue to fully support its current consumer camera lineup, including the Mission 1 Pro ILS. However, the long-term product direction following the Starman Optical merger, which pushes the company toward AI data-center and defense-related hardware, remains uncertain.
How badly has GoPro’s stock performed before this?
GoPro’s stock had fallen roughly 91-93.6% over the five years prior to the Fischbach news, down from a peak of $93.85 per share in October 2014 to trading below $1 per share for extended periods in 2026, putting the company at risk of falling short of Nasdaq listing requirements.
Should I invest in GoPro because Markiplier did?
Fischbach has explicitly and repeatedly cautioned against this. He has said his investment was a high-risk personal bet he could afford to lose, made for reasons specific to his own filmmaking interests, and not intended as investment advice — explicitly stating, “The last thing I want to do is imply in any capacity that you guys should also do it.”
