He’s not exactly Bill Ackman, who yesterday hit a net worth of $8.5 billion after selling a stake in his hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, but after two years of not doing much, Keith Gill AKA Roaring Kitty isn’t either it goes badly.
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Estimates suggest he has already netted $6.8 million in paper profits from $65.7 million in call options for GameStop, which has risen 87% in value over the past month and was up 70% yesterday versus Monday. Bloomberg says he sits on paper profits of $170 million, but will have to spend $240 million to exercise options to achieve all of that.
Gill became a meme stonk sensation in 2021 when he flew under the names Roaring Kitty on YouTube and DeepF-ingValue on Reddit and talked about the value of Gamestop stock, which he has repeatedly professed a genuine liking for. The CFA Institute, however, knew him simply as Keith Gill and expelled him when it became clear that he was also a charter holder with a job at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., and that he had not declared his activity. in Kitty at FINRA. Gill then went silent after appearing at a US House Republican hearing and declaring that he was not a cat.
Now he is back and the fans are there for it. “This man is a savage,” says one called Caffeine and Ketamine in the Reddit thread where Gill announced his new position at Gamestop. “Get the monkeys ready nipple cream,” says another.
However, not everyone is so sure about the new Gill. The Wall Street Journal reports that E*Trade is considering banning it from its platform. It’s concerned about stock price manipulation, but it probably doesn’t help that E*Trade’s systems crashed in May when Gill first resurfaced and sparked a flurry of meme stock activity. Hank Medina, the man behind the Litquidity Instagram account, has wondered about the young Gill. “Keith is now just posting random images to cause a pump,” he tweeted yesterday. “It feels wrong that he basically runs every GameStop pump by buying more shares/calls and then proceeds to tweet, knowing full well that retailers will raise the price by an insane amount.”
Morgan Stanley, which owns E*Trade, reportedly has its global financial crimes unit and outside counsel debating whether Gill’s actions were legal. However, the bank is also wary of banning him from the platform and incurring the wrath of his meme army. “It’s gonna be one helluva ride boyz,” says one.
Separately, Financial News suggests that jobs in France, Germany and Milan may not be as secure as once thought. Goldman Sachs cut 5% of their jobs last year, even as JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley added 544 and 100 people, respectively.
Meanwhile…
Forget Jain Global, Diego Megia launched Taula Capital Management with $5 billion on day one. It employs 68 people across London, Jersey, New York, Dubai, Milan and Switzerland. (Bloomberg)
Panmure Liberum is eliminating more than two dozen roles following its merger. (Bloomberg)
“The landscape of capital structured products has changed massively. Previously, it was mostly banished from Europe and Asia. Now, much of that activity has shifted, and America is in the driving seat. Margins in the business are also being compressed as more banks invest in this space and automation increases. Issuance volumes are high, but we are not seeing the same growth in banking income.” (IFR)
If you’re contacting someone between the ages of 18 and 34, it helps to text before you call. (WSJ)
If your salary doubles from $50,000 to $100,000, it would usually have to double again to $200,000 to generate an equal increase in happiness. (WSJ)
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