NEW YORK (Reuters) – Massachusetts’ securities regulator is investigating the trading activities of GameStop investor Keith Gill, who rose to fame as stock influencer “Roaring Kitty” during the meme stock frenzy of 2021.
Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin, the state’s top securities regulator, is investigating Gill’s activities, a spokesman said, but declined to comment further.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the investigation.
Shares of GameStop rose Monday after stock influencer “Roaring Kitty” returned to Reddit with a post showing a $116 million bet on the embattled video game retailer.
Shares were down about 5% at 10:45 a.m. ET (1445 GMT).
The post, the account’s first in three years, also indicated that Gill may be sitting on a paper profit of tens of millions of dollars on his position in GameStop options.
Reuters could not independently verify whether the Reddit post was made by Gill or whether the views expressed were authentic.
Gill could not immediately be reached for comment. Regulatory investigations and investigations do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing and often do not result in any enforcement action.
Galvin had investigated Gill’s activities in 2021 but closed that case after reaching a settlement with Gill’s former employer MassMutual for failing to properly oversee his activities, the spokesman told Reuters last month.
In 2021, screenshots on Reddit of his bullish GameStop trades sparked a wave of demand for “meme stocks” — often companies with weak fundamentals that gained a cult-like following through social media hype among retail traders.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the meme stock craze of 2021 and ultimately concluded that marketplace systems were working well. She failed to find evidence that short sellers were behind this madness, as private investors had claimed.
The WSJ also reported that the SEC is investigating options trading in GameStop. An agency spokesperson declined to confirm or comment.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Michelle Price and Marguerita Choy)
