GameStop booster did well; many devotees won't as shares sag
WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) — “IF HE'S STILL IN, I’M STILL IN,” was the constant refrain from followers of Roaring Kitty, the YouTube personality whose enthusiasm about buying stock in video-game retailer GameStop made him an icon in the social media frenzy that shocked Wall Street last week.
His hometown newspaper in Massachusetts dubbed him a “Brockton legend,” stirring dreams about how the former high school running champion might use his newfound riches to build the city an indoor track. Hollywood studios started sketching out movie proposals about the small-pocketed investors who banded together on social media to vault a troubled brick-and-mortar chain “to the moon” and punish hedge funds that were betting on its failure.
But what was a big victory for Roaring Kitty, a 34-year-old whose real name is Keith Gill, is turning into hardship for followers who jumped on the bandwagon and took risky bets on GameStop's rollercoaster ride in the stock market.
GameStop shares dropped 30% in afternoon trading Thursday, continuing to plummet from a high of $483 a week ago to around $60. That's still above the $17 they fetched at the start of the year.
The GameStop saga is also raising complications for Gill, who now faces an inquiry from a Massachusetts state regulator over potential conflicts of interest because of his work as a licensed securities broker and “financial wellness education director” for insurance company MassMutual. The regulator's letter to MassMutual was first reported by the New York Times.
The company told the office of Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin that it had previously denied a request from Gill to engage in outside business activity. His last day at the job was Jan. 28.
Doubts emerged about GameStop and its online boosters this week as the stock plunged, spelling...