Reddit vs. Wall Street: the latest in the GameStop saga – The Verge

GameStop is kicking off 2026 by shutting down over 400 stores in 42 states

2026-05-01T18:39:02-04:00

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is in line to potentially earn $35 billion in stock options, so long as the company hits a $100 billion market cap. One way to hit that target is by cutting costs, and one way of cutting costs is to close down a bunch of stores. The company closed 590 stores in fiscal year 2024 and said in a recent SEC filing that it anticipates "closing a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025." With the fiscal year set to end on January 31st, it appears the race is on, and according to a blog tracking closures, GameStop is planning on shuttering (or already has) over 430 stores this month.

As of Sunday, January 11th …

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Dumb Money is the Funko Pop version of the GameStop story

2026-05-01T18:37:46-04:00

Nick Offerman and Seth Rogen as dumb money in Dumb Money. | Image: Lacey Terrell / Sony Pictures

Dumb Money thinks you're stupid - the title might as well be a reference to anyone paying to see the film.

It's a bummer, too. I had such high hopes! The GameStop saga, which is the basis for the movie, is genuinely bizarre, and anyone with a flair for the absurd would have a fantastic time with it. To recap: a bunch of Redditors (and others) bought the stock of a flailing retailer that was heavily shorted, sending it soaring - and burning the shorts in the process.

A financial Love Actually, minus the charm

Think about the story of Keith "Roaring Kitty / Deep Fucking Value" Gill for even a moment and you have one of the funniest possible s …

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GameStop fires its CEO

2026-05-01T18:38:44-04:00

GameStop has fired CEO Matt Furlong, the company announced as part of its first quarter 2023 earnings on Wednesday. There's no immediate replacement, though board chairman Ryan Cohen has been appointed executive chairman, the company said in a short press release about Furlong's firing.

Not for long
- Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) June 7, 2023

Cohen, who founded the e-commerce site Chewy, has invested in a number of "meme stocks," including GameStop and Bed Bath & Beyond. His surprise sale of Bed Bath & Beyond stock in 2022 raised eyebrows and led to at least one lawsuit accusing him of pumping and dumping the stock. His initial investment in Gam …

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Two GameStop documentaries miss the forest for the memes

2026-05-01T18:38:21-04:00

All this fuss for a brick and mortar? | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

I was somewhat surprised that both Netflix and MSNBC chose to make documentaries about Wall Street Bets, GameStop, and retail traders. The majority of the action takes place online, after all. So what is the visual here? Watching someone type text into a box?

As a result, MSNBC's feature, Diamond Hands: The Legend of WallStreetBets, and Netflix's series, Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga, rely heavily on stock footage. In the case of Diamond Hands, this has a '90s MTV type of vibe; in the case of Eat the Rich, it seems like editors just slapped together whatever was handy and cheap.

These shows appear to be less art and more "content"

In both …

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Welcome to the stonk market

2026-05-01T18:38:09-04:00

In February, a quant fund called Cindicator Capital posted a job listing for someone with three years of trading experience - and at least 1,000 karma on r/WallStreetBets. "Important: NO higher education in economics or finance," the listing said. Most of the time on the job would be spent on Reddit, Twitter, and Discord, finding out what retail traders are up to. Among the job duties listed: "opening six-figures OTM [out-of-the-money] options trades with the firm's own capital" and "trying your best to prevent our risk management from having a heart attack."

This listing actually made sense. After a few boring years where normal people mo …

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How a GameStonk YouTuber is shaking up the California recall

2026-05-01T18:38:33-04:00

Walking up to a podium in San Francisco this summer, Kevin Paffrath grabs the microphone. "Hodl that AMC," he says with a smile, gazing out at the few dozen or so people, predominantly young men, attending the rally, a reference to the "meme stock" moment from earlier this year.

Paffrath, better known as MeetKevin on YouTube, is running to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom in California's recall election this month. It's rare that a gubernatorial candidate would lead off a speech with such a painfully online reference, but that's part of Paffrath's appeal. He's branded himself as the candidate for the r/wallstreetbets crowd - and so far, it's worki …

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WallStreetBets donates more than $350,000 to gorilla charity to prove ‘apes together strong’

2021-03-18T08:39:57-04:00

"Apes together strong" is one of the mottoes of Reddit's r/WallStreetBets community. Now, members of the financial subreddit are making good on one of their favorite memes by donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities supporting gorillas in the wild.

The most prominent recipient of the redditors' generosity is the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, whose president and CEO Tara Stoinski describes it as "the world's largest and longest running organization that is fully dedicated to gorilla conservation."

The fund has so far received more than $350,000 in donations, according to a report from BBC News, with redditors adopting approximatel …

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GameStop’s stock was on the rise again, until it wasn’t

2021-03-10T19:48:40-05:00

GameStop stock (GME) soared in value on Wednesday, peaking at $348.50 per share. Then, in an event that's definitely not cause for concern, minutes later it lost fully half its value by plummeting to $172, Bloomberg reports. Yes, "stonks" are back, and GameStop is once again in the crosshairs of online amateur investors.

Wednesday's drama ultimately ended with the price settling back down to $265 per share, but it's hard to not feel déjà vu. It seems like it was only yesterday when everyone was watching in a mixture of shock, amusement, and general concern as GME crested $483 per share. The rise and fall doesn't quite compare, but the losse …

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Cybersecurity firm says social media bots hyped GameStop during trading frenzy

2021-02-28T18:08:34-05:00

A cybersecurity firm found that bots were promoting GameStop stock on social media before and after the stock's frenzied rise last month, Reuters reported. Massachusetts-based PiiQ Media says social media bots promoted Dogecoin, GameStop, and other "meme" stocks in posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. The firm estimated that tens of thousands of bots participated, but it's still unclear how much influence they had or didn't have on the rise and fall of GME and other stocks.

Shares in GME skyrocketed in January as Reddit users on r/wallstreetbets rallied around the stock in an attempt to squeeze hedge funds that had bet agains …

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GameStop stock just jumped 100 percent, and WallStreetBets is ecstatic

2021-02-24T16:21:19-05:00

Joe Weisenthal" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22326631/EvBPaphWgAMG2yi.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />

GameStop is up… again, by a lot. Before market close on Wednesday, the video game retailer's shares started to soar, and GME just closed at $91.71 - up nearly 104 percent for the day.

It's the highest the stock has been since it fell back down to Earth at the beginning of the month following the unprecedented, Reddit-fueled rally that sent it as high as $483 a share. Over the course of the afternoon, trading on the stock was halted twice.

$GME +100% pic.twitter.com/qIWLTfveHq
- Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) February 24, 2021

It's not exactly clear what's happening here. But one group is celebrating: r/WallStreetBets. The community of retai …

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