Who to watch at the ‘meme stock’ hearing.
The House Financial Services Committee held a much-awaited hearing Thursday to question key players in a two-week trading frenzy that helped Gametop, the challenging video game retailer, raise shares by more than 600 percent. Who will be on the hot seat here.
Keith Gill, better known as Roaring Kitty
Mr. Gill, A registered securities broker, Advocated shares of GameStop on Reddit, but did not disclose his former job at MassMutual as wellness education director. On Tuesday, Mr. Gill and his former employer were named as defendants in a proposed class-action lawsuit that they claimed misled retail investors who bought Gametop’s shares during the rally.
Kenneth Griffin, Citadel
Chicago’s billionaire founder and CEO is Citadel capitalThe fund itself has attacked all sides for its role in the trading frenzy. The Citadel is a partner with Robinhood, which pays for the right of the Citadel customers to complete the business; This makes small value discrepancies between buy and sell orders out of pocket. This went to $ 2 billion in defenses of Melvin Capital, when the fund found itself in a squeeze as investors pushed their smaller positions into the corner during the rally.
Vlad Tenev, Robinhood Markets
The chief executive of Robinhood has strongly defended the company’s decision to stop the purchase of certain shares during the frenzy, and said the increased lending requirements Due to lack of cash In an online brokerage firm. In the weeks following the frenzy, Mr. Tenev has called for an end to the two-day period for settling trades, which he argues were the cause of several issues.
Gabriel Plotkin, Melvin Capital Management
Mr. Plotkin’s hedge fund, Melvin capital, Became a source of ire for the Redditors for their short position against GameStop. As buyers poured into the company, he faced a cash crunch that forced him to the Citadel, its partners, and Point72 Asset Management for $ 2.75 billion in emergency funds. Mr. Plotkin has said that the threats following the business frenzy compelled him to protect his family.
Steve huffman, Reddit
Reddit chief executive and co-founder Has defended the public hub R / Volvetbits Forum for investors during the so-called MEM stock frenzy as a tool to help close the resource gap benefiting institutional traders. They said that There was not much his company could do To protect against market manipulation, but the platform is “really good work showing how dangerous an investment can be, because in my history of seeing that community, most of them lose money.” Reddit has taken advantage of increasing interest, Raised $ 250 million in new funding earlier this month In a deal that started at $ 6 billion.
Jennifer Shulp, Cato Institute
An expert on financial markets, Ms. Shulp (not Schlub, as previously stated) plans to testify that the meme stock incident did not pose a systemic risk. Prior to joining CATO, she was a director in the Department of Enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Very well worded!