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The latter was a pivotal figure in the meme stock frenzy in early 2021. Through his YouTube videos and social media posts, Gill advocated for the potential of GameStop's undervalued shares, attracting a massive following of retail investors. This movement culminated in a dramatic short squeeze, where the stock price skyrocketed and short sellers betting against the stock were forced to buy it, sending it even higher.
GameStop recently got back in the spotlight after Gill’s return to social media. And now, Kennedy is in the game, too.
“I just invested $24,000 in GameStop from the fees I earned from suing Monsanto for their knowingly poisoning our soil and causing cancer,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X.
“I love the idea of making Monsanto support $GME and the Apes. We need a free and fair market. Let’s punish predatory short selling to the moon.”
"Apes" is a popular slang term for the retail investors who banded together to invest in GameStop and other stocks during the 2021 meme stock phonomenon. The term originated on social media and is a reference to the film series "Planet of the Apes," symbolizing strength and unity among individual investors against the perceived dominance of hedge funds and institutional investors.
Kennedy tagged Gill in his post and used hashtags like #ApesNotLeaving and #ApesTogetherStrong to show his support for the movement. He also shared a presidential campaign poster depicting an ape and the words “Apes together strong” in the same font as the film series’ posters.
‘I’ll ride with you’
Kennedy’s message seems to have struck a chord with X users. His post has received 4 million views, 20,000 likes and over 3,000 comments.
While many are enthusiastic about GameStop’s resurgence, it is important to remember that it remains a volatile stock.
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GameStop stock closed at $17.46 on Friday, May 10. On the evening of May 12, Gill posted a meme on X after a three-year hiatus on social media. This sparked a surge in GameStop’s share price the next two days, closing at $48.75 on Tuesday, marking a remarkable gain of 179%.
However, the stock has since pared most of those gains and is currently trading around $20. At the end of last week, the company revealed it had sold 45 million shares and made nearly $933.4 million as part of an “at-the-market” equity offering program disclosed earlier in the month.
This sent shares higher in extended trading.
Kennedy has expressed his intention to endure the volatility.
“I ride with you and I’m not leaving,” he wrote.
While aligning with retail investors participating in the meme stock frenzy, Kennedy is challenging Wall Street’s long-standing dominance in the investing world.
“I’m very aware of what the average retail investor has been saying about the need for greater transparency in our markets, stronger regulatory oversight and tougher penalties for market manipulation and criminal behavior,” he wrote. “My administration will support the Ape retail rebellion and enact aggressive Wall Street reforms.”
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Jing is an investment reporter for MoneyWise. He is an avid advocate of investing for passive income. Despite the ups and downs he’s been through with the markets, Jing believes that you can generate a steadily increasing income stream by investing in high quality companies.
