Keith Gill

Thank you, Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, and members of the committee.

I’m happy to discuss with the committee my purchases of GameStop shares and my discussions of their fair value on social media. It is true that my investment in that company multiplied in value many times. For that, I feel enormously fortunate. I also believe the current price of the shares demonstrates that I’ve been right about the company.

A few things I am not: I’m not a cat. I am not an institutional investor, nor am I a hedge fund. I do not have clients, and I do not provide personalized investment advice for fees or commissions.

I’m just an individual whose investment in GameStop and posts on social media were based upon my own research and analysis.

I grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. My family was not wealthy—my father was a truck driver, and my mom a registered nurse. I was one of three kids and the first in my family to earn a four-year college degree. When I graduated from Stonehill College in 2009, it was not a good time to be looking for a job. From 2010 to 2017, I worked at a few startup companies, but there were significant periods when I was unemployed.

I took an interest in the stock market, and even though I had very little money, I used those times to educate myself and learn more about investing.

In 2019, after nearly two years unemployed, I accepted a marketing and financial education job at MassMutual. My wife, Caroline, and I were thrilled that I had an income and benefits. My job was to help develop financial education classes that advisors could present to prospective clients. I was not a stockbroker or a financial advisor. I did not talk to clients, and I did not recommend stocks for them to buy.

Before and after I joined MassMutual, I studied and followed stocks. One of those was GameStop. In early June 2019, the price of GameStop stock declined below what I thought was its fair value. I invested in GameStop in 2019 and 2020 because, as I studied the company, I became more and more confident in my analysis.

Two important factors—based entirely on publicly available information—gave me confidence that GameStop was undervalued.

First, the market was underestimating the prospects of GameStop’s legacy business and overestimating the likelihood of bankruptcy. I grew up playing video games and shopping at GameStop, and I plan to continue shopping there. GameStop stores still provide real value to consumers and reliable revenue for GameStop.

Second, I believed that GameStop had the potential to reinvent itself as the ultimate destination for gamers within the rapidly growing $200 billion gaming industry. GameStop had a unique opportunity to pivot toward a technology-driven business by embracing the digital economy. GameStop might be able to find new revenue streams that vastly exceed the value of its current business.

I am hardly the only person who has advocated these points.

When I wrote and spoke about GameStop on social media with other individual investors, our conversations were no different from people in a bar, on a golf course, or at home talking or arguing about a stock. Hedge funds and other Wall Street firms have teams of analysts working together to compile research and analyze shares of companies. Individual investors don’t have those resources. Social media platforms like Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter are leveling the playing field.

The idea that I used social media to promote GameStop stock to unwitting investors and influence the market is preposterous. My posts did not cause the movement of billions of dollars into GameStop shares.

It is tragic that some people lost money, and my heart goes out to them. But what happened in January just demonstrates again that investing in public securities is extremely risky.

As I said earlier, I consider myself and my family fortunate with our investment. When the stock price broke $20 in December, I knew my investment was a success. I was so happy to visit my family in Brockton for the holidays. The money will go such a long way for us. We had an incredibly difficult 2020. Most difficult was the tragic and unexpected loss of my sister, Sarah, in June. I’m grateful to be in a position to give back to and support my family.

As for what happened in January, others will have to explain it. It’s alarming how little we know about the inner workings of the market, and I’m thankful that this committee is examining what happened.

I also want to say that I support retail investors’ right to invest in what they want, when they want. I support the right of individuals to send a message based on how they invest.

As for me—I like the stock. I’m as bullish as I’ve ever been on a potential turnaround for GameStop, and I remain invested in the company.

Thank you. Cheers, everyone.