Gill made his first post on social media in nearly four years, helping spark a new flood of interest in shares of GameStop, the stock that catapulted him to fame and fortune.
The Massachusetts-born investor gained prominence for his social media presence as The Roaring Kitty on YouTube and “deepf—ingvalue” on Reddit subforum r/WallStreetBets.
Around the start of the pandemic — when an online community of amateur traders exploded amid shutdowns and stimulus checks — Gill saw an opportunity to shock the world, laying out the case for droves of investors to buy shares in the embattled video game retailer.
As more amateur traders bought into the plan, GameStop shares jumped from roughly $1 at the start of 2020 to $5 by the end of the year, and then soared to a peak of more than $80 in late January 2021.
Gill, who bought thousands of shares of the stock at its bottom, would make millions as amateur traders waged a war against short sellers.
Amateur traders flocked to GameStop and other companies that hedge funds had “shorted,” making investments that would pay off as the stocks of those firms faltered.
GameStop investors had a plan to flip those bets on their heads by driving the price of shares high enough to force steep losses for those who shorted the company.
The Hill’s Sylvan Lane has more here.
