Who is Keith Gill (AKA Roaring Kitty)?
Keith Gill — perhaps known better by his YouTube username, Roaring Kitty, or his Reddit handle, u/DeepF**kingValue — was, until late 2020, a relatively unknown financial analyst at a Massachusetts-based life insurance company called MassMutual. He traded stocks on the side as a hobby, occasionally uploading lighthearted videos about his positions and stock-picking strategies to YouTube.
Known for his casually irreverent style (often seen beer-in-hand sporting a red headband and a graphic cat t-shirt in his videos), Gill was memorialized on the silver screen with the September 2023 release of Dumb Money, in which he is played by Paul Dano.
The film chronicles the notorious GameStop short squeeze of late 2020 and early 2021, during which a loosely organized horde of retail investors, galvanized on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets, used collective buying action to drive GameStop’s stock price up by around 1,500% in less than a month, much to the dismay of several hedge funds that had large short positions in the so-called meme stock.
By most accounts, Gill’s YouTube videos, which he posted to r/WallStreetBets, were the initial catalyst that sparked the saga. In his videos, Gill made the case that the struggling video game retailer was undervalued and wasn’t losing as many of its customers to online game stores as most people assumed. This, combined with the company’s massive short interest at the time, inspired Gill to invest.
SOPA Images/Getty Images
His videos gained a lot of traction, and soon, much of r/WallStreetBets’ attention had turned to GameStop. Gill’s influence in the event was so pronounced that after all was said and done, he was subpoenaed and made to speak during a congressional hearing devoted to investigating the GameStop phenomenon, famously repeating his trademark mantra, “I like the stock.”
But just how much did Gill make off the squeeze? And what is he worth now?
What is Keith Gill’s net worth in 2023?
Keith Gill’s exact net worth is unclear, but it likely varies in step with GameStop’s stock price, assuming he still holds a large position in the video game retailer. While most assume he does, it is hard to say for sure, as he no longer posts video updates with screenshots of his portfolio holdings.
As of 2023, several different sources reported Gill’s estimated net worth to be around $30 million. This number should be taken with a grain of salt, however, as Gill has largely shied away from the public eye since April 2021, when he posted his last video, and Techie + Gamers, the website that first published this figure, does not provide a source for the information.
VALERIE MACON/Getty Images
How much is Gill’s GME position worth now?
As of April 2021, Gill’s GME position reached 200,000 shares after he exercised 500 call options and bought another 50,000 shares. Assuming Gill’s “diamond hands” are still holding 800,000 shares (200,000 adjusted for the company’s 4:1 stock split in July 2022), his Gamestop position alone would be worth around $14,016,000 ($17.52 per share times 800,000 shares) as of late September 2023.
What was Gill’s net worth before the GameStop squeeze?
Gill had been invested in GameStop since at least September 2019, when he posted a screenshot showing that he had a $53,000 position in the stock. By the time his videos began to gain traction on r/WallStreetBets in late 2020, GameStop’s price had already risen substantially from its summer 2020 lows, bringing his net worth up with it.
In late 2020, when the short squeeze was beginning in earnest, Gill’s net worth was estimated to be somewhere between $90,000 and $100,000 according to Dumb Money.
What was Gill’s net worth at the peak of the GameStop squeeze?
According to a screenshot he posted mid-day on January 27th, 2021, near the peak of the short squeeze, Gill held 50,000 shares of GameStop, then valued at around $17.4 million, 500 $12-strike-price call options, then valued at around $16.8 million, and around $13.8 million in cash, for a total of around $47.9 million.
The next morning during premarket trading, GME’s stock price briefly crested $500 per share, bringing Gill’s 50,000 shares up to $25 million in value — not including his call options or cash position.
What does Keith Gill do now? Does he still own GameStop Stock?
Gill has retreated into relative obscurity since his last video update in April of 2021, which was titled “Cheers everyone!” Even though he hasn’t posted any new content since then, his YouTube channel, Roaring Kitty, still boasts over 500,000 subscribers, many of whom are likely waiting eagerly to hear from their hedge-fund toppling folk hero once again.
Gill no longer works for MassMutual, having resigned on January 28, 2021, just after the peak of the GME short squeeze. Whether or not Gill still holds some or all of his 800,000 (split-adjusted) shares of GME is unknown, although most of his fans seem to think he remains bullish on the stock.
