People Are Mocking Hedge Funds For Losing Billions To Redditors

January 28, 2021, 7:41 am

Over the past several weeks, Redditors have taken to buying up stock in GameStop in an attempt to constantly raise the share price, which in turn forces big hedge fund companies that essentially bet against the share price rising to go deep into debt rather than profit while driving a company out of business.

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The movement has been such a massive deal that it’s captured mainstream attention, with media outlets generally siding with the hedge fund bros and complaining that it shouldn’t be possible for random people to manipulate stock prices — something hedge funds and billionaires have been doing for years.

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It’s all a little more complicated than that, but there is an in depth explainer here, and a much more simplified one here. 

The gist of it, however, is that all the random people on Reddit with hundreds or thousands of dollars to spend are making lots of money, while hedge funders are bleeding out because they took a gamble on the market and lost.

It’s more than a little difficult to feel sorry for those people — especially when the market is pulling out all the stops to try to help them keep their money and bankrupt Redditors who are holding the stock and refusing to sell it back to them at the cheap prices they need to survive.

And more than that, it’s created some excellent jokes on Twitter. It’s not often the rich get any sort of comeuppance, thanks to the deep imbalance of power in this world, but a play like this one feels pretty good to a lot of folks.

1.

I know this GameStop stuff is funny, but you have to remember this is hurting real people who own multiple boats

— Kevin Farzad (@KevinFarzad) January 27, 2021

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2.

don’t feel too bad for the hedge fund managers. if they can’t land on their feet, they have a $1400(ish) stimulus check coming in a few months

worse comes to worst, they could always get a job that will pay $15/hr by 2025!

— kim possible facts (@kimpossiblefact) January 27, 2021

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3.

taking a break from smugly telling poor people “there are no free lunches” so I can have a spectacular meltdown when my hedge fund stops giving me free money

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 27, 2021

4.

Do hedge fund managers not have bootstraps?

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) January 28, 2021

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5.

2008 financial collapse? You should have considered the risks!

Student loan debt? You should have considered the risks!

Credit card debt? You should have considered the risks!

Hedge fund makes a risky bet & might go under? It’s not their fault, shut everything down!

— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 28, 2021

6.

The SEC about to ban outsider trading

— Robert Kroese (@robkroese) January 27, 2021

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7.

Not as funny when you realize a lot of these hedge fund managers have secret families to feed.

— logan bartlett (@loganbartlett) January 28, 2021

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8.

9.

They should start putting in job applications and enroll in a personal budget management course at their local community college

— Gallifreyan Jedi (@JediofGallifrey) January 27, 2021

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10.

Hedge fund CEO: I lost $3 billion, my company, my home, and now my wife

Me: Have you considered budgeting?

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 28, 2021

11.

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12.

“$600 is more than enough if you invest it smartly.”

*Redditors buy GameStop stock*

“No, not like that…”

— Rae (@Rae_209) January 28, 2021

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13.

Melvin Capital is facing bankruptcy and yet its CEO owns an iPhone. Curious!

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 28, 2021

14.

maybe those hedge fund companies should have eaten less avocado toast

— artisanal fun-ruiner (@makokaazo) January 28, 2021

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*First Published: January 28, 2021, 7:41 am