‘Roaring Kitty’ lawsuit over GameStop is withdrawn for now
NEW YORK听–听Investors in GameStop have for now withdrawn their lawsuit accusing Keith聽Gill, who听颈蝉听known as “Roaring Kitty”聽补苍诲听helped spur the meme stock mania of 2021,聽of defrauding them through聽a “pump-and-dump” scheme for the video game retailer.
础听proposed class action accusing Mr. Gill of securities fraud was filed on Friday in the Brooklyn, New York, federal court, but voluntarily withdrawn on Monday without explanation.听The lawsuit聽, according to the filing.
Lawyers at the Pomerantz law firm, which represents the investors, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Investors led by Martin Radev, who lives in the Las Vegas area, said Mr. Gill manipulated GameStop securities between May 13 and June 13 by quietly accumulating large quantities of stock and call options, then dumping some holdings after emerging from a three-year social media hiatus.
They said Mr. Gill’s activities caused GameStop’s share price to gyrate wildly, generating “millions of dollars” in profit for him at their expense.
“Defendant still enjoys celebrity status and commands a following of millions through his social media accounts,” the complaint said. “Accordingly, Defendant was well aware of his ability to manipulate the market for GameStop securities, as well as the benefits he could reap.”
Mr. Gill did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
On May 12, he posted a cryptic meme on the social media platform X that was widely seen as a bullish signal for GameStop, whose stock he cheer leaded in 2021.
骋补尘别厂迟辞辫’蝉听聽more than tripled over the next two days, then聽聽nearly all the gains by May 24.
On June 2, Mr. Gill revealed that he owned 5 million GameStop shares and 120,000 call options, and on June 13 revealed he had shed the call options but owned 9 million GameStop shares.
Investors said the truth about Mr. Gill’s investing became known on June 3 when the Wall Street Journal wrote about the timing of his options trades and said the online brokerage E*Trade聽considered kicking him off its platform.
The meme stock mania was fueled in part by investors stuck at home during the pandemic, and led to a “short squeeze” that caused losses for hedge funds betting stock prices would fall.
On Monday, trading in Chewy聽shares became volatile after Mr. Gill聽 a 6.6% stake in the pet products retailer. – Reuters
