Massachusetts Secretary of State investigates GameStop trades of “Roaring Kitty” Keith Gill – NBC Boston

The Massachusetts Department of State confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating the trading practices of Brockton resident Keith Gill, known online as “Roaring Kitty,” who is responsible for the recent surge in GameStop stock.

CNBC reported that Gill shared a screenshot on Monday evening showing that he owns 5 million GameStop shares and made $79 million that day alone. Volatile GameStop stock ended the day up 21% on Monday, after earlier rising as much as 75%.

Gill, better known as “Roaring Kitty” on social media platforms YouTube and X, shared a screenshot on a Reddit forum late Sunday that people are speculating could be an image of the shares and call options Gill holds in GameStop. The image showed Gill may hold 5 million shares of GameStop, which were worth $115.7 million at Friday’s closing price. The screenshot also showed 120,000 call options in GameStop with a strike price of $20 expiring on June 21. The call options were purchased at about $5.68 apiece.

Additionally, Gill’s account on X posted an image of a reversed card from the popular game Uno on Sunday evening. No text was attached to the image.

He posted another screenshot of his portfolio, showing the same common stock and call option holdings after the market closed Monday as those he shared Sunday evening.

CNBC said it could not independently verify Gill’s Reddit posts.

GameStop ended Monday’s volatile session up 21%, having risen as much as 70% at one point during the day. The stock was hit in afternoon trading by a Wall Street Journal report that said E-Trade, the Morgan Stanley-owned brokerage that Gill uses, was having internal discussions about whether to exclude him from the platform over concerns about possible market manipulation.

Gill’s latest post, which appeared shortly after the Journal’s report, appears to show that the trader did not sell, even though the value of his common stock rose from $115.7 million to $140 million in a single day alone.

The Massachusetts Secretary of State is not releasing details of the investigation, saying it is too early. Gill was already under investigation three years ago when he worked at Mass Mutual.

This latest activity from Gill comes about three weeks after he appeared online for the first time in three years, driving up the price of GameStop. In May, the account “Roaring Kitty” on X posted a picture of a Man sitting forward in his chaira meme used by gamers when things get serious.

This latest activity comes about three weeks after Gill appeared online for the first time in three years, driving up the price of GameStop. In May, the account “Roaring Kitty” posted a picture on X of a Man sitting forward in his chaira meme used by gamers when things get serious.

Gill and his followers changed the course of a company that seemed headed for bankruptcy by buying up thousands of GameStop shares, even though virtually every common metric was telling investors the company was in serious trouble.

This was the beginning of what was known as a “short squeeze,” in which large investors who had bet against GameStop were forced to buy GameStop’s rapidly rising share price to offset their massive losses.