Enhanced Games Stock Plunges 50% After Las Vegas Debut

Shares of Enhanced Group (ENHA), the company behind the Peter Thiel-backed Enhanced Games, fell about 50% on Tuesday after a one-night competition in Las Vegas produced a single unofficial world record.

The event took place May 24 at Resorts World Las Vegas and offered a $25 million purse. Enhanced Group went public earlier this month at a reported $1.2 billion valuation. The stock closed at $5.36 on Friday and opened near $2.67 on Tuesday, an intraday drop that erased roughly $800 million in market value. Market capitalization moved from about $981 million on May 7 to roughly $655 million after the sell-off.

Roughly 42 athletes competed. The company’s monitoring data showed 91% of competitors used testosterone, 79% used human growth hormone and 62% used stimulants such as Adderall and modafinil. Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev posted a 20.81-second time in the men’s 50-meter freestyle, an unofficial world-best, and received a $1 million bonus.

Sprinter Fred Kerley won the 100 meters in 9.97 seconds. That time would not have qualified for the final at the Paris Olympics. Several events were won by athletes who did not use performance enhancements, including Olympic gold medalist Hunter Armstrong, who won the men’s 50m backstroke.

A researcher criticized the event on social media, writing: “Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. spent millions to create a steroid Olympics. They promised to ‘redefine human limits’ and put up $25M in prize money…the whole pitch was that drugs would shatter the limits of clean sport. Instead, they proved the gap between juiced and clean…the only thing they actually proved was how good the clean athletes already are. You think the Enhanced Games exposed anything or just embarrassed themselves?”

Backers of Enhanced Group include tech investor Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. The company’s future plans include additional events; staging a follow-up competition would require renewed investor support and audience demand. The Las Vegas results and the stock reaction will factor into decisions about whether the series continues.