What started as one surfer’s idea to tether a video camera to his wrist to record his exploits on the ocean became a $3.5 billion empire on Thursday, when GoPro Inc. began trading on Wall Street in one of the largest IPOs by a consumer hardware company in decades.

$31.34

Closing price for GoPro’s stock. The sports video-camera maker began trading at $28.65, 19 percent above the price it set late Wednesday.GoPro had priced shares at $24, the high end of the $21 to $24 range offered in its IPO filings, fending off pressures to raise the amount..

$427 million

Amount GoPro raised in its public debut, becoming the largest consumer electronics IPO since Duracell, which went public in 1991 and raised $433 million, according to investment research and data provider Dealogic. The company began trading at about 8 a.m. on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol GPRO.

8.5 million

Number of cameras GoPro has sold since 2009. The high-definition camera is a small and lightweight gadget that can be taken to the ocean floor, through a blizzard or miles above earth; without glitter or flair but durable enough to survive most crashes and tumbles.

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