---
title: GoPro Hands Control to an AI-Optics Maker Chasing Data-Center Demand
description: Starman Optical is taking majority control of GoPro at $1.14 a share, turning the struggling camera brand into a Nasdaq home for AI data-center optics.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-09-02T10:33:36.997Z
updated: 2026-09-02T10:33:37.005Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/gopro-starman-optical-merger
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/gopro-hero13-starman-merger-238459.webp
categories: Business
content_type: News
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

GoPro is handing majority control to Starman Optical, a privately held maker of optical transceivers for [AI data centers](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/georgia-openai-data-center-power-bill-savings), in a deal that ends the action-camera pioneer's run as an independent public company and turns it into a US-listed home for a business focused on defense and hyperscale computing. Under the agreement, GoPro shareholders receive $1.14 per share in cash and keep roughly 10 percent of the combined company, in a transaction the companies value at about $285 million. Starman takes the rest, and control.

The cash price is about a 29.5 percent premium to GoPro's last close of roughly $0.88 before the announcement. GoPro's roughly $92 million in debt is repaid in full at closing, leaving what the companies describe as a substantially debt-free business that will remain listed on Nasdaq. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory clearance and a vote by GoPro stockholders. Houlihan Lokey advised GoPro on the transaction, and Fenwick & West acted as its legal counsel.

For Nicholas Woodman, GoPro's founder and chief executive, the deal is an exit from a camera business that has been shrinking for years. For Charles Tebele, the chief executive of Starman Holding who co-founded the computer retailer RCS Computer Experience in 1990, GoPro supplies something that would otherwise require a fresh initial public offering: a recognized brand, a patent portfolio, a clean balance sheet and a ready Nasdaq listing for an optics company chasing a fast-growing market.

## GoPro's Market Share Collapsed as Chinese Rivals Took Over

GoPro went public in June 2014 at $24 a share, and its stock peaked near $98 that October. A long decline followed. Revenue fell from $1.0 billion in 2023 to $801 million in 2024 and to $651.5 million in 2025, when the company reported a net loss of about $93.5 million. In June 2026 GoPro issued a going-concern warning, citing substantial doubt about its ability to continue as it ran a strategic review.

The pressure came from the market GoPro created. Its share of action-camera sales fell from about 75 percent in 2023 to [under 10 percent](https://petapixel.com/2025/12/30/china-now-owns-the-action-cam-market-the-us-once-dominated/), as China's DJI and Insta360 came to dominate the category, together holding around 87 percent. GoPro has cut costs to match, including a workforce reduction of roughly 23 percent.

## Starman Is Buying a Listing for an Optics Business It Has Not Detailed

Starman Optical makes optical transceivers, the components that move data as light between servers and switches inside data centers. Its products target AI data-center networking along with government, defense and aerospace customers. At the OFC 2026 conference its photonics unit showed "Liberty Series" transceivers running at 800 gigabits and 1.6 terabits per second, the speeds large AI clusters increasingly require. Starman is also investing about $150 million in a 100,000-square-foot plant in Warren, New Jersey, expected to employ about 250 people, the first award under the state's Next New Jersey Manufacturing Program.

What the merger does not disclose is how large that business already is. The announcement names no revenue, no customers and no order figures for Starman's optics operation. Its products are on the market, but its operational scale is not public, so the disclosure gives no way to judge whether that business is large enough to grow into GoPro's listing.

## US Policy Is Turning Toward Optics Made at Home

The market Starman is chasing is expanding quickly. TrendForce puts the market for AI optical transceivers at about $16.5 billion in 2025 and roughly $26 billion in 2026, an increase of around 57 percent, driven by the 800G and 1.6T links that AI networking depends on.

Policy is moving in US makers' favor. China supplies the majority of the world's optical transceivers, and the Federal Communications Commission has [proposed banning imports of Chinese optical transceivers](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/fcc-proposes-import-ban-on-chinese-optical-transceivers-blockade-targets-key-ai-interconnects-as-china-holds-56-percent-global-market-share) while the Defense Department restricts foreign procurement. China's manufacturers had already taken GoPro's camera market. Now US buyers want the optical components inside their AI systems made at home, a shift that favors domestic suppliers like Starman. Applied Optoelectronics is investing about $150 million in Texas to make 800G and 1.6T transceivers in the United States.

For now, GoPro says the cameras are not going away. The company says it will remain publicly listed and continue to support its existing consumer products and its subscription and cloud platform while investing in growth. Whether that commitment survives under an owner focused on data-center optics is the open question for the GoPro shareholders left with about 10 percent of the combined company.

## FAQ

**Q: Is GoPro going bankrupt?**
In June 2026 GoPro warned of substantial doubt about its ability to continue on its own, and it opened a strategic review. This deal is the result of that review. It repays GoPro's debt in full and cashes out most shareholders at $1.14 a share, which the company presents as the alternative to a worse outcome.

**Q: How much are GoPro shareholders getting?**
Shareholders receive $1.14 per share in cash and keep roughly 10 percent of the combined company, in a deal valued at about $285 million. The cash price is about a 29.5 percent premium to GoPro's last close near $0.88, though far below the stock's 2014 high near $98.

**Q: Why is Starman buying GoPro instead of listing on its own?**
GoPro gives Starman a ready Nasdaq listing, a recognized brand, a patent portfolio and, once the debt is repaid, a clean balance sheet. That is quicker and more certain than filing for a fresh initial public offering, and a US listing helps an optics maker courting defense, aerospace and hyperscale customers that favor domestic suppliers.

**Q: What are optical transceivers, and why do AI data centers need them?**
Optical transceivers convert electronic signals into light and back, moving data between servers and switches. At the 800-gigabit and 1.6-terabit speeds AI clusters now use, light carries data farther and with less loss than copper wiring, so large data centers rely on huge numbers of them.

**Q: Will GoPro cameras still be sold?**
Yes, at least for now. GoPro says it will continue to support its existing consumer products and its subscription and cloud platform. The deal does not commit the combined company to the camera business over the long term.