Keith Gill, better known as Roaring Kitty on YouTube, influences gaming and finance. His activities on Reddit, where he hasn’t posted since 2021, played a pivotal role in popularizing “meme stocks” like GameStop. These stocks, often from companies with unstable fundamentals, gained notoriety and a devoted online following due to social media buzz.
In 2021, Gill’s bullish GameStop trades captured widespread attention, sparking a surge in demand for these meme stocks. Recently, he resurfaced on Reddit with a revelation of a $116 million investment in the struggling video game retailer, causing GameStop shares to skyrocket by over 70% on a Monday. By early morning, trading volume for GameStop reached approximately $390 million, surpassing that of Nvidia, which had $343 million, according to LSEG data.
Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at digital brokerage eToro, commented to The Guardian, “Keith Gill is putting his money where his tweets are, and some investors are following his lead and rekindling interest in meme stocks.” This resurgence of interest was reflected on the investor-focused social media platform stockstwits.com, where GameStop was the top trending topic. Other meme stocks like AMC, Tupperware, SunPower Corp, and US-listed shares of BlackBerry also experienced gains ranging from 6% to 26%.
Gill’s background includes being born to a truck driver and a nurse in Massachusetts in 1986. He became a financial analyst and amassed a significant following on platforms like X and YouTube through his profound financial insights. However, he retreated from public view in 2021 after the GameStop event. Initially, in 2019, Gill invested $53,000 in GameStop stock, which, at the peak of the GameStop frenzy, was valued at $48 million.
