Robinhood Markets, GameStop Corp. and hedge funds are all on the wish list that House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters is gathering for a hearing that will go into trading the shares fueled by Reddit, which shocked Wall Street and lawmakers.
“I’m trying to bring in everyone who has a role to play,” Waters said in an interview, without naming specific directors he intends to ask to testify. “I want Reddit there. I want Robinhood there. I really want GameStop there. And I want some hedge funds there. ”
The California Democrat cited the Citadel, the hedge fund founded by billionaire Ken Griffin and Melvin Capital, which lost 53% in January after being hit by a short GameStop press that was orchestrated by an army of retail investors posting on Reddit message boards.
Waters also indicated that he could ask Keith Gill, a Reddit contributor credited with the remarkable GameStop-inspired rally, to appear. On YouTube, Gill is nicknamed “Roaring Kitty.”
“Young man, I think his name is ‘Gill,’ that’s how it all started, I have him on my list,” Waters said.
The February 18 meeting will give lawmakers a chance to catch the Titans on Wall Street and ask about potential reforms that may be needed to tame a market that has at least been temporarily removed from economic reality. GameStop, which has not been expected to make a profit for years, was in a wild race, hitting $ 347.51 a share last month before closing at $ 92.41 in trading in New York on Wednesday.
Retail investors have fueled growth, but probably some have now been hit by losses, causing concern that they are taking risks they do not understand and cannot afford.
Robinhood, Citadel and Melvin all have major roles in the saga. Robinhood is where most retail investors made their bets on GameStop before the brokerage revolted them last week by restricting its customers from buying new shares at the video game retailer.
In addition to its hedge fund, Griffin also controls Citadel Securities, a giant market that pays Robinhood the right to execute its clients’ stock transactions. Griffin and his partners invested $ 2 billion in Melvin as they faced losses on GameStop.
(An earlier version corrected Melvin Capital’s spelling)