Hedge Funds Used This Data Guru to Make Millions on Nintendo
- Media Create supplied funds with early sign of Switch weakness
- ‘Our data doesn’t fail,’ founder says of 25-year-old firm
Hedge funds will look almost anywhere for an edge. When it comes to trading shares of Nintendo Co., they’re turning to a tiny research shop in a corner of Tokyo better known for used booksellers and guitar stores.
Media Create Co. is the brainchild of Atsushi Hosokawa, a 63-year-old who got his start cold-calling video-game stores for information. His firm now tracks sales in Japan and other Asian countries, estimating shipments ahead of official company releases with enough precision that he’s drawn more than two dozen hedge funds as clients. Last year, the company showed shipments of Nintendo’s portable Switch console weren’t growing as quickly as expected, helping make millions for clients who shorted the stock before the game maker cut its shipment target in January.