According to a June 3 report by The Wall Street Journal, Gill, who recently made a high-profile return to social media platform X, bought a significant volume of GameStop (GME) options through E*Trade. These options, some of which expired that week, likely resulted in a profit for Gill. However, the online brokerage platform, owned by Morgan Stanley, is reportedly deliberating whether to remove Keith Gill, famously known as “Roaring Kitty,” from its platform due to concerns about potential stock manipulation involving GME.
Gill, a key figure in the 2021 meme stock rally and the GameStop short squeeze, began posting cryptic messages on X on May 13 after a three-year hiatus, causing a surge in meme stocks and meme coins. On June 2, he posted on Reddit for the first time since 2021, sharing a screenshot showing his substantial holdings in GME stock and options, betting on the stock to be at least $20 per share by June 21.
The brokerage firm and Morgan Stanley are worried that Gill could be leveraging his considerable influence to artificially inflate GME’s stock price for personal gain. They are also evaluating whether his recent posts on X and Reddit might constitute manipulative behavior. However, the decision to remove Gill is fraught with potential backlash, as E*Trade fears that such an action might provoke negative attention and lead to other users closing their accounts in solidarity. As of now, no definitive action has been taken.
Following his post, GME shares rallied over 19% during Sunday night trading and closed up 21% at $28 on Monday, June 3. After-hours trading saw the stock climb another 8.5% to $30.36. Gill’s June 3 Reddit post under his alias DeepFuckingValue also revealed significant gains, with a reported $33.6 million on his 5 million GME shares and $51.8 million in options.
Source Agencies
