How Much Did Roaring Kitty Make From GameStop?

Keith Gill, known by his online aliases Roaring Kitty on YouTube and DeepFuckingValue on Reddit, became a central figure in a significant market event involving the video game retailer GameStop. His strategic investments and public discussions garnered widespread attention, leading to substantial financial outcomes. The story of his involvement with GameStop resonated with many, transforming a seemingly ordinary investment into a topic of global interest and discussion in early 2021.

Roaring Kitty’s Early Investment Strategy

Keith Gill began building his position in GameStop in June 2019, recognizing what he believed was an undervalued company. His initial investment, approximately $53,000, primarily involved purchasing call options. He later expanded his holdings to include common stock. Gill’s investment thesis centered on the belief that the market was underestimating GameStop’s potential for growth and overestimating its likelihood of bankruptcy. He anticipated a possible business transformation.

He openly shared his analysis and investment updates through detailed posts on the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets and via videos on his YouTube channel, Roaring Kitty. These public disclosures outlined his long-term perspective on GameStop’s future, including its ability to reinvent its business model. Gill’s approach combined a focus on fundamental value with an awareness of the stock’s high short interest, which he identified as a potential catalyst for significant price movement.

The GameStop Market Phenomenon

Before 2021, GameStop was among the most heavily shorted U.S. companies, with approximately 140 percent of its publicly traded shares held in short positions. This exceptionally high short interest meant that some shares had been borrowed and sold short multiple times. Institutional investors and hedge funds had placed significant bets on the company’s decline, reflecting a widespread belief that its traditional retail model was unsustainable.

A “short squeeze” occurs when the price of a heavily shorted stock begins to rise, forcing short sellers to buy back shares to limit their potential losses. This buying activity, in turn, drives the price even higher, creating a cycle of escalating demand. Users of the Reddit community r/wallstreetbets identified GameStop’s high short interest as an opportunity to initiate such a squeeze.

Online discussions and collective buying pressure from these retail investors contributed to an unprecedented surge in GameStop’s stock price. The coordinated effort to purchase shares created a rapid increase in demand, compelling short sellers to cover their positions. This collective action led to GameStop’s stock price soaring dramatically, capturing widespread media attention and demonstrating the influence of organized retail investors on financial markets. The stock surged by about 1500% over a two-week period in January 2021, reaching a pre-market high of over $500 per share on January 28, 2021.

Quantifying Roaring Kitty’s Financial Gains

Keith Gill’s initial investment of $53,000 in GameStop experienced a remarkable increase in value during the 2021 market phenomenon. By January 2021, his position had grown to approximately $50 million. At the peak of the rally, his overall net worth, largely tied to his GameStop holdings, was estimated to have surged to around $289 million.

In February 2021, Gill revealed he had doubled his common stock holdings to 100,000 shares, in addition to holding 500 call options. By April 2021, he exercised all 500 of his call options, converting them into 50,000 shares and increasing his total stock ownership to 200,000 shares.

Gill continued to adjust his position over time. In June 2024, he disclosed a significant holding of 5 million GameStop shares and 120,000 call options, valued at approximately $174.5 million at the time of disclosure. Shortly thereafter, he further modified his holdings, converting his call options into direct share ownership, resulting in a total of 9 million GameStop shares and no remaining options. The value of these shares stood at about $262.10 million following this conversion. These figures largely represent estimated paper gains, based on market prices at the time of his public disclosures; realized gains would occur only upon the sale of his shares.