The Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating the trading practices of Brockton resident Keith Gill, known online as "Roaring Kitty," the man behind the recent spike in GameStop's stock.
CNBC reported that Gill shared a screenshot on Monday night showing that he has 5 million shares of GameStop stock and he made $79 million on paper on that day alone. GameStock’s volatile stock ended the day Monday with a 21% gain after earlier being up as much as 75%.
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Gill, better known as “Roaring Kitty” on social media platforms YouTube and X, shared a screenshot in a Reddit forum late Sunday that people are speculating could be an image of the shares and call options Gill holds in GameStop. The image showed that Gill may hold 5 million shares of GameStop that were worth $115.7 million as of the closing price on Friday. The screenshot also showed 120,000 call options in GameStop with a $20 strike price that expires on June 21. The call options were bought at around $5.68 a piece.
In addition, Gill’s account on X posted a picture of a reverse card from the popular game Uno on Sunday night. There was no text accompanying the image.
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He posted another screenshot of his portfolio showing the same common stock and call option holdings Monday after the stock market closed as those he shared Sunday evening.
CNBC said it could not independently verify Gill's Reddit posts.
GameStop closed Monday's volatile session up 21%, after soaring as much as 70% at one point intraday. The stock was hit by a Wall Street Journal report in afternoon trading saying E-Trade, the Morgan Stanley-owned brokerage Gill uses, is holding internal talks about whether to ban him from the platform over concerns regarding potential market manipulation.
Gill's latest post came shortly after the Journal report. It appeared to show the trader did not sell even as the value of his common stock stake alone jumped to $140 million from $115.7 million in a single day.
The Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office isn't sharing details about the investigation, saying it's too early. They also investigated Gill three years ago when he was working with Mass Mutual.
This latest activity from Gill comes about three weeks after he appeared online for the first time in three years, spiking the price of GameStop at the time. In May, the “Roaring Kitty” account posted an image on X of a man sitting forward in his chair, a meme used by gamers when things are getting serious.
This latest activity comes about three weeks after Gill appeared online for the first time in three years, spiking the price of GameStop at the time. In May, the “Roaring Kitty” account posted an image on X of a man sitting forward in his chair, a meme used by gamers when things are getting serious.
Gill and those who agreed with him changed the trajectory of a company that appeared to be headed for bankruptcy by buying up thousands of GameStop shares in the face of almost any accepted metrics that told investors that the company was in serious trouble.
That began what is known as a “short squeeze,” when those big investors that had bet against GameStop were forced to buy its rapidly rising stock to offset their massive losses.
