GoPro suddenly looks like a very different company than it did just last week. First, YouTuber Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach became the company’s single largest shareholder, without disclosing that in a sponsored review that came out a week later. Now, almost the entire company has been bought by Starman Holding for $285 million in cash, which Starman is characterizing as a “merger.”
While GoPro has always been best known as the company that makes consumer action cameras, the press release takes a bit of a different tone: founder and CEO Nick Woodman now calls GoPro “a leading American imaging and optical solutions company, addressing important areas of national security related to cameras, optics and AI infrastructure.”
“The combination of GoPro’s world-class optical expertise and intellectual property with Starman’s advanced transceiver capabilities and U.S. manufacturing platform creates a unique opportunity. Together, we intend to bring production of these critical components back to the United States,” reads a quote from Starman Holdings CEO Charles Tebele.
What is Starman Holding? According to Tebele’s online bio, it’s got a lot of fingers in a lot of pies — but you might recognize its phone case brands Incipio, Incase, Griffin, and Survivor. It appears that Starman Holding owns Onward Brands, which acquired Vinci Brands, a division of Armor Acquisition, which bought them from Incipio back in 2021.
You might also recognize its brand Digital Gadgets, which reportedly donated to NY governor Kathy Hochul’s campaign around the same time it secured $637 million in contracts for COVID-19 tests, then sued the administration over subsequent bids.
Amid its financial troubles — it lost most of its publicly traded value years ago and had $92 million in debt — GoPro had already announced it would begin defense and aerospace consulting in April. The new press release says GoPro will “continue to fully support its existing consumer products” and grow in consumer, but it sounds a bit like a pivot.
I’m just spitballing here, but when I think about tiny cameras, optical transceivers, and defense manufacturing, it reminds me of those long reels of optical fiber that come out the back of attack drones — and how US consumer drones have largely been set aside in favor of war.
Starman says shareholders will keep 10 percent of the company’s shares; Markiplier purchased 8.5 percent. It’s not clear if the YouTuber plans to keep them, or will get a rapid payday; the value of the stock doubled overnight, though it’s currently settling down.
The deal should close by the end of the year, according to the press release; it does not yet appear to have hit the SEC’s filing system yet.