Markiplier turned a $9 million bet on a nearly bankrupt GoPro into roughly $15 million weeks before a buyout was announced, and the timing looks bad enough to draw regulator attention.

• GoPro was in deep trouble — sales down a third, losses nearly tripling, and bills far bigger than its cash.
• The founder had to lend the company $20 million just to keep the lights on, and auditors doubted it could survive the year.
• Markiplier bought around 70 cents a share, crossed the 5% ownership line in July, and filed the required paperwork a month late — about two weeks before the merger news.
• He says he just liked the brand and the new camera, but there is nothing in the financials that made this a cheap stock.
• Odds of an SEC investigation look decent; odds of a smoking gun like a text tipping him off look very small.

Outlook: The buyout is going through as a reverse merger with a defense-linked photonics company, so the stock stays public and Markiplier keeps a paper gain — and a story to defend.