First Gamestop, now gorillas. Redditors invest money in saving monkeys

They are gorillas.

This is not monkey business. Members of the Reddit group, who gained national attention for their role in increasing the January trade frenzy of GameStop (GME), AMC (AMC) and other meme actions: they gathered over the weekend to use their winnings to symbolically “adopt” gorillas through donations to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Why gorillas? It’s a bit of an inside joke: WallStreetBets members refer to themselves and others on the page as “apes,” as part of the group’s internal lingo.

It all started on Saturday, when I was a member of WallStreetBets adopted a baby gorilla named Urungano of the organization on behalf of GameStop. Since then, Dian Fossey has received thousands of new adoptions and more than $ 333,000 in donations, compared to about 20 adoptions in a typical weekend, according to a spokesman.
“Unrealized GME gains have been used to adopt a gorilla,” a WallStreetBets poster said on the site.

“Monkeys save monkeys,” said another.

Redditors started an impromptu donation to a gorilla conservation organization after a WallStreetBets member "adopted" this baby gorilla, Urungano, on the weekend.

WallStreetBets investors sent GameStop shares up more than 1,500% at one point, squeezing hedge funds that had reduced shares and sparked a conversation about whether individual retail investors ’access to Wall Street is equal to that of large institutional investors.

A WallStreetBets poster said Monday that increasing donations to help save gorillas pointed to the benefits of making stock trading more accessible to people. Some members of the group have also been arguing in recent days about donating some of their “stores” (or profits) from trading GameStop shares to workers at gaming retail stores.

“Simis on Reddit will use (profits) to donate to good causes, pay medical bills, help the needy in their communities,” the user said. “I can’t wait for wealth to be returned to the little one and for everyone to benefit from it.”

Shares of GameStop fell rapidly after hitting around $ 350 during the January trading frenzy. But in recent weeks, stocks have started to rise again and were trading at about $ 200 on Monday, up 66% from the beginning of this month. Many members of WallStreetBets say they continue to hold stocks, hoping the gains will continue.
Within the Reddit army that is crushing Wall Street
The Dian Fossey Fund he said in a tweet that gorillas are, in fact, “a big investment,” adding that the funds will be used to track, control, and study wild gorillas and their habitat. The fund says it is the “largest and oldest antique gorilla conservation organization in the world.”

“Gorillas live in the Congo Basin, the second largest rainforest in the world and a natural defense against #climatechange,” the group said. “When we save gorillas, we save the planet. How is that for #ROI?”

The organization’s CEO, Tara Stoinski, also posted a video on WallStreetBets, thanking the Redditors for helping feed the donations.

“Hi WallStreetBets … I just got word that you adopted gorillas through our website,” Stoinski said in the video. “I just wanted to thank you so much for this amazing support.”

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