GameStop’s stock went soaring to unprecedented levels a few weeks ago as “retail investors” on sites like Reddit purchased shares, pushing the price higher in an effort to thwart short-sellers who were counting on the prices to fall even further. It was a very unusual situation that drew the attention of Congress, both for the initial surge as well as sites like Robinhood halting sales of the stock, stopping people from buying more in a move that some saw as protecting hedge funds over normal people. A Congressional hearing today, February 18, will address the controversy, and several of the biggest players from the last few weeks will be in attendance.
How To Watch The GameStop Hearing
Today, February 18, there will be a hearing by the House Committee on Financial Services at 9 AM PT / noon ET. The hearing is available on the Financial Services Committee’s official YouTube channel, and we’ve embedded the stream above so you can watch it all right here.
Who Is Testifying?
Several CEOs from the biggest actors in the GameStop stock fiasco will be testifying at the hearing.
- Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev
- Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin
- Melvin Capital CEO Gabriel Plotkin
- Reddit CEO Steve Huffman
- WallStreetBets investor Keith Gill
The announcement on the committee’s Twitter page says there could be additional witnesses, as well, but they were not listed.
Robinhood drew public criticism for temporarily halting new GameStop share purchases as the price continued to soar. Melvin Capital, meanwhile, was one of the hedge funds that suffered the most from the rising price, having heavily shorted GameStop, and Citadel bailed it out. However, Kenneth Griffin also founded a firm called Citadel Securities with ties to Robinhood, which will almost certainly be brought up during the hearing.
Keith Gill, the mastermind who kicked off the massive “squeeze” on WallStreetBets, was named in a proposed class-action lawsuit that alleges he wasn’t honest about his position as a retail investor. He previously worked as a licensed broker at MassMutual, but resigned earlier this year.
