Robinhood Markets, GameStop Corp. and hedge funds are on the wish list that Maxine Waters, chair of the house’s Financial Services Committee, gathers for a hearing that will delve into Reddit-fueled stock trading that has shocked Wall Street and lawmakers .
“I try to get everyone to have a role to play,” Waters said in an interview, without naming specific executives he plans to ask to testify. “I want Reddit there. I want Robinhood there. I even want there to be GameStop. And I want a couple of hedge funds. “
The California Democrat cited Citadel, the hedge fund founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, and Melvin Capital, which lost 53% in January after being hit by a small GameStop run that was orchestrated by an army of retail investors who posted it on Reddit message boards.
Waters also indicated that he could ask Keith Gill, a Reddit contributor who credited the remarkable GameStop rally, to show up. On YouTube, Gill goes by the screen name “Roaring Kitty.”
“Young man, I think his name is‘ Gill, ’he started it all, I have him on the list,” Waters said.
The Feb. 18 hearing will offer lawmakers a chance to roast Wall Street titans and ask about possible reforms that might be needed to tame a market that, at least temporarily, disregarded economic reality. GameStop, which is not expected to make a profit for years, has been on a wild ride, hitting $ 347.51 per share last month before closing at $ 92.41 on Wednesday in New York.
Retail investors fueled the rise, but it is likely that some have been affected by the losses, prompting concern that they are taking risks that they do not understand and cannot take.
Robinhood, Citadel and Melvin have starring roles in the saga. Robinhood is where most retail investors made their bullish bets on GameStop, before the brokerage outraged them last week by restricting their customers from buying new shares at the video game retailer.
In addition to its hedge fund, Griffin also controls Citadel Securities, a market giant that pays Robinhood the right to execute its clients ’shares. Griffin and his partners invested $ 2 billion in Melvin as they faced their losses at GameStop.
(An earlier version corrected the spelling of Melvin Capital)