YouTube Keith Gill, Roaring Kitty
Keith Patrick Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, is a YouTube and Reddit influencer who helped spark the wild GameStop craze, driving up its stock prices and upending the market, according to his LLC.
According to Reuters, Keith Gill and Reddit user DeepF***ingValue, “helped attract a flood of retail cash” into GameStop, sending hedge funds that didn’t appreciate the company into a tailspin and the stock market into tumult. Daily Mail and the Wall Street Journal say Gill is also the Reddit user DeepF***ingValue who posts on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum.
Gill, who is also known as “Mr. Wizard,” is being praised in some corners for bringing large hedge funds to their knees.
Using public records, Reuters and Daily Mail first identified Gill as the YouTuber Roaring Kitty using LLC records. His name is indeed listed as the registered agent for Roaring Kitty LLC.
Users are threatening a class action suit as Robinhood barred trading on GameStop. The Securities and Exchange Commission is taking notice. It’s all sparked quite a controversy.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Gill Worked as a Financial Advisor in Massachusetts
According to Reuters, Gill is a 34-year-old “financial advisor from Massachusetts” who previously worked for MassMutual insurance. The Wall Street Journal reported that Gill “until recently worked in marketing for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.”
His name comes up on Google associated with MassMutual’s In Good Company website. He worked as a Chartered Financial Analyst, according to Reuters. “Empower your employees to move forward in their financial futures with a series of immersive workshops that benefit every individual,” that website says.
An old LinkedIn page for Gill said he was director of financial wellness education at MassMutual and president of Debris Publishing Inc. He was also an investment operations officer at LexShares. A website for Debris Publishing describes it as, “an independent financial publishing firm. Debris is dedicated to producing financial software and independent research from which individual investors and institutional investors alike may profit.”
The Roaring Kitty LLC was incorporated in Concord, New Hampshire, and dissolved almost a year later, online records show.
2. Gill Was Bullish on GameStop, Driving the Craze
According to Reuters, “Gill repeatedly made the bull case for the beleaguered bricks-and-mortar retailer and shared images of his trading account profit on the stock.”
He told The Wall Street Journal, “I didn’t expect this,” and added, “This story is so much bigger than me. I support these retail investors, their ability to make a statement.”
Although Gill explains his stock choices on YouTube, he did add, “I don’t provide personal investment advice or stock recommendations during the stream.”
Daily Mail reported that Gill posted a screenshot showing he had turned a $745,991 investment into a more than $47 million windfall. The Reddit user’s page contains references to, and photos of, YouTuber Roaring Kitty.
Even five months ago, he wrote, “In this video I share a new style of my analysis on GameStop (GME, $4.61, $299M market cap). As of August 2020 I’m bullish on the stock. What are your thoughts on GME?”
He told the Wall Street Journal that he started investing in GameStop in 2019, when it went for $5 a share.
3. Gill Is a Married Father Who Shares His ‘Approach to Investing’ in Videos
Gill’s videos on YouTube indicate he’s a married father to wife Caroline Gill. According to Daily Mail, Gill is “a married father-of-one who lives in a three-bed home in Wilmington, Massachusetts.” He previously lived in New Hampshire, according to online records.
He joined YouTube in 2015. His page’s description reads, “The Roaring Kitty channel revolves around educational live streams where I share my daily routine of tracking stocks and performing investment research.”
He added:
The Roaring Kitty channel and live streams are for educational purposes only. I share my approach to investing in an effort to set you on the right path to building out your own investment process. I don’t provide personal investment advice or stock recommendations during the stream. Please understand that my style of investing is extremely aggressive and I take on a substantial amount of risk. It’s likely my approach would not be suitable for you. If you’re seeking personalized advice, I encourage you to sit down with a financial professional who can review your personal situation, financial background, risk tolerance, etc. Check out the Roaring Kitty disclaimer video for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM-UsY8Htmk
4. Gill’s Brother Declared that He Was ‘Kinda Famous Now’
Gill’s brother, Kevin Gill, shared a story about Roaring Kitty and wrote on Facebook, “Um yeah. So my brother is kinda famous now.”
Indeed, he’s become a sensation on the Internet.
His YouTube page has more than 100,000 subscribers.
5. Gill, Who Is Known as Mr. Wizard, Was a Decorated Runner in College
According to Daily Mail, Gill was photographed playing at a 2014 “World Cup” for the card game Wizard in Rome.
He was nicknamed “Mr. Wizard.”
At Stonehill College, where he studied accounting, Gill was recognized as “one of the most decorated runners in the rich history of the cross country and track & field programs.”
He is from Brockton, Massachusetts. An old college bio reads, “National Honor Society member…Accounting major…Born Keith Patrick Gill, June 8, 1986…Son of Steven and Elaine Gill…Has sister, Sara (28) and brother, Kevin (15).”
His men’s cross country bio reads, “2006…All-America for the Skyhawks, first two-sport All-America in Stonehill history (cross country and track), NE-10 Athlete of the Week (9/25/06), Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team…High School… Two-time Boston Globe All-Scholastic team member…Voted Brockton Enterprise Runner of the Year as a senior.”
He is in the school’s Hall of Fame.
READ NEXT: Biden’s Heartbreaking Words About Son Beau