The House Committee on Financial Services, Chaired by Maxine Waters, has announced the witnesses on the forthcoming hearing entitled “Game Stopped? Who Wins and Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Investors Collide.”
Witnesses include:
- Vlad Tenev, Chief Executive Officer, Robinhood Markets, Inc.
- Steve Huffman, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Reddit
- Kenneth C. Griffin, Chief Executive Officer, Citadel LLC
- Gabriel Plotkin, Chief Executive Officer, Melvin Capital Management LP
- Keith Gill
In an email, the Committee indicated additional witnesses may be named prior to the hearing.
The hearing was scheduled following the advent of coordinated trading originating in certain subReddits, like Wallstreetbets, targeting securities with large outsized short positions. Buying in shares of stocks like Gamestock (NYSE:GME) caused a massage short squeeze driving shares dramatically higher. Shares in Gamestop currently trade at around $50 a share down from a 52 week high of over $480 a share.
A portion of the trading routed through Robinhood, a fast going Fintech that is popular with younger investors.
At one point in time, Robinhood hit the pause button on trading in certain shares causing outrage amongst some of its users.
Citadel and Melvin are two firms that were involved in the Gamestop saga. Citadel Securities is a market maker that handles a portion of Robinhood’s trading. Melvin is a hedge fund that lost money as part of the short squeeze.
Keith Gill was active on the subreddit Wallstreetbets. He is also known by his handles like DeepFuckingValue and Roaring Kitty.
The hearing will be live-streamed on the Committee’s website and watched by thousands.
The virtual hearing will take place on February 18 at 12:00 PM ET
