The price for GoPro shares decreased nearly seven percent on Oct. 2 after CEO Nick Woodman and his wife Jill decided to donate 5.82 million shares to a newly-announced charity.
The price of the shares closed at $85.46, which is still more than triple the price of the shares since the initial public offering of the company on June 24 that listed prices of $24 per share.
The decrease wiped out around $800 million worth of market value for GoPro shares,
JPMorgan Chase & Co., the lead banker for GoPro's IPO, allowed early authorization to Nick and Jill Woodman to send the shares as a donation for the establishment of the Jill & Nicholas Woodman Foundation.
The total value of the donated shares is around $497.5 million.
JPMorgan is in effect allowing Woodman's charity to bypass a rule that prevents insiders from selling GoPro stock within the first 180 days of its IPO, which could possibly send the prices of shares lowed.
The bank made the exception and will allow the charity to start selling the donated shares starting Oct. 3, which is almost two months before the expiration date of the lock-up period of the shares of GoPro that is pegged in late November. However, it is not specified that the charity will immediately sell the shares that it received from Woodman's donation.
Woodman only announced the Jill & Nicholas Woodman Foundation a day before, on Oct. 1. A press release stated that the mission of the charity will be announced at a later time.
"We wake up every morning grateful for the opportunities life has given us," said the Woodmans in a joint statement. "We hope to return the favor as best we can."
According to a person with knowledge about the matter, the shares were donated before the expiry of the lock-up period so that the transfer will be more tax-efficient.
"It's an overreaction to this development," said FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi, referring to the sudden drop in share price. Seyrafi has tagged a buy rating on GoPro stocks.
"The stock tripled in a matter of three months, and this is a buying opportunity," she added.
The charity donation, however, will be placed under investigation as Levi & Korsinsky LLP has launched a probe into the transaction after investors were angered by the move. The company will be looking for possible breaches of fiduciary duty by GoPro's board of directors in allowing the deal to take place.
