A real-life buzz about GameStop, between Wall Street and Main Street, erupted Thursday between hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen and listing poster boy Dave Portnoy.
The back-and-forth started when Portnoy, founder of the blogging site Barstool Sports, attacked Cohen, the billionaire owner of the Mets, over restrictions on trading apps like Robinhood that have hurting novice investors behind the spectacular small action rally like Gamestop.
“PRISON TIME,” Portnoy said in a tweet related to Cohen, founder of Point72 Capital, and Citadel, a hedge fund run by billionaire Ken Griffin.
“Democrats and Republicans have not agreed on 1 issue so far. Today’s events are blatant, illegal and unfathomable. It also shows the degree of untouchability. @RobinhoodApp @ StevenACohen2C Citadel Point72 everyone thinks they are. Fines are not enough. Prison or bust. ”
Portnoy made the comment while linking to a news article reporting lawmakers’ anger over Robinhood’s trade restrictions that banned users from buying certain shares, including GameStop.
Cohen replied, “Hey Dave, what’s your meat for nothing? I’m trying to make a living like you. Happy to disconnect.”
“I do not do it offline. That is where the shadow occurs. ”
Dave Portnoy
“I do not do it offline. That’s where a shadow passes, ”Portnoy said.
He then accused Cohen of having intervened in controversial restrictions on commercial applications like Robinhood that hurt novice investors behind the spectacular rally in small stocks like Gamestop. Hedge funds have lost billions in the concentration by shortening those shares, including Cohen’s 72 point, which has dropped more than 10 percent.
“I think you have had a lot of involvement in today’s criminal acts to save hedge funds at the expense of ordinary people. Do you unequivocally deny it ?, Portnoy said.
He cited as evidence Cohen’s recent efforts to rescue its Melvin Capital Management hedge fund from losses incurred by betting on stocks like GameStop, known as “shorting”.
Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, along with Griffin’s Citadel, invested $ 2.2 billion combined in Melvin, led by Cohen’s former protégé Gabe Plotkin. Citadel also executes commercial orders on behalf of Robinood.
“You rescued Melvin because he’s a guy along with Citadel,” he replied.
Cohen defended himself by saying, “What are you talking about? I unequivocally deny this accusation. It had nothing to do with what happened today … outside ”.
Portnoy continued: “So, in your career choice, why did you stop trading? $ amc $ gme $ nok $ sndl $ nakd ? Would you be very curious? ”
“Good question,” Cohen shot. “These questions should be addressed to Robin Hood, etc. I’m a trader just like you. When you find out, give me a shout.”
“I think the runners should make a statement. It seems reasonable, “he added.
The two men then seemed to make up for it with Portnoy applauding Cohen for speaking. “At least talk and try to answer. That is appreciated ”.
But elsewhere, the dispute between Main Street and Wall Street continued to simmer, with much of the outrage directed at Citadel, which is Robinhood’s largest buyer of order flow.
Citadel’s deal with Robinhood, which makes it pay the app to run user transactions, has long prompted Wall Street to give the hedge fund part of the business a special view of the market, which Citadel has long denied it.
The company insisted on Thursday that it keeps its stock market and hedge fund trading businesses separate, saying it had nothing to do with Robinhood’s trading restrictions, which dropped GameStop shares by 44%. .
“Citadel Securities has not given instructions or caused any brokerage firm to stop, suspend or limit trading or refuse to do business,” the company said in a statement.
That didn’t stop angry investors from launching.
“We just saw Ken Griffin interfere with markets to limit losses. It was a robbery. We need to investigate,” @chitriman wrote on Twitter.
“It’s actually Citadel crossing Robinhood, which is blocking [GamseStop], AMC and others, “one Reddit user wrote.” Robinhood is also a victim of bigger fish. “