Keith Gill might be the biggest surprise celebrity of 2021 so far. The investor, who often posts on the WallStreetBets Reddit page, was largely responsible for triggering a massive spike in the price of GameStop stock, ultimately becoming a multimillionaire and hurting short-sellers who bet on the stock to fail. He seemed to be a genius regarding finding a flaw in the system, sending traditional Wall Street investors into a panic. But even Gill doesn’t really know how everything works here.
Speaking during a Congressional hearing about the GameStop situation (via PC Gamer), Gill admitted he “barely” understands certain elements of the previous month’s events, including Robinhood halting purchases when GameStop’s stock had peaked at several hundred dollars.
“It’s alarming how little we know about the inner-workings of the market, and I am thankful that this Committee is examining what happened,” he said.
Alongside Gill, who is named in a class-action suit alleging fraud on his part, others summoned as part of the hearing included Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Melvin Capital CEO Gabriel Plotkin, and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman. Melvin Capital is a hedge fund that had shorted GameStop and needed to be bailed out after losing a massive amount of money as the price shot up.
Despite answering the questions thoroughly, Gill clearly thought the hearing was funny, as well. At one point he said he was “not a cat,” referencing a recent viral video of a lawyer who accidentally used a kitten filter on Zoom while addressing a judge.
The GameStop situation is far from over, but we’re glad even attending a serious hearing couldn’t stop the memes. We promise we are also not cats.
