WallStreetBets Philanthropy
WallStreetBets is the infamous subreddit known for causing the massive GameStop short squeeze earlier in the year. The short squeeze sent GameStop’s stock to the moon; costing Hedge Funds short the stock billions of dollars. The subreddit is filled with people ranging from amateur day traders to professional financial advisors like Roaring Kitty, the man that testified before the United States Congress on the GameStop mania.
During the short-squeeze, members of WSB raked in lots tendies, a term used on the subreddit that means chicken tenders which is short for profits. Although members have described themselves as degenerates, they use their profits in a generous, selfless way.
“Ape alone is weak. Apes together strong” is one of the mantras of the WSB community. It means they view their synchronized financial activity as evidence that an army of “stupid” day traders can outwit Wall Street’s geniuses. Now WSB is using their GameStop tendies to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities that support wild gorillas.
CEO of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund says the fund is the world’s largest and longest-running organization that is fully dedicated to gorilla conservation. The fund has already received more than $350,000 in donations, and Redditors have adopted about 3,500 endangered gorillas in six days. Guess how many adoptions the charity usually gets? — 20 per weekend.
This community, full of retail traders, is beating Hedge Funds at their own game and putting their winnings towards a worthy cause. What will be the next move for the eccentric trading community?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.