GameStop Stock Soared. Roaring Kitty Showed His Stake.

The Reddit account tied to Keith Gill, known as Roaring Kitty on X and YouTube, shared another purported screenshot of his position.

The screenshot shows an E*Trade account that still owns 5 million GameStop shares and 120,000 call options that expire on June 21 and represent the right to buy shares at $20. With GameStop stock up 21% to $28 on Monday, the shares were worth $140 million and the options had a value of $120 million.

The stock and options were worth $181 million at Friday's close.

A Sunday post showing the same amount of shares and options sent GameStop stock surging because it represented the first position update since Gill stopped posting on his DeepF—Value Reddit account in April 2021.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that E*Trade and its parent company Morgan Stanley were debating whether to close Gill’s account. The Journal reported Morgan Stanley employees found Gill purchased options contracts prior to kicking off a meme frenzy caused by breaking his posting hiatus in mid-May. The Journal also reported the Securities and Exchange Commission was looking into options trading around the May posts.

Gill couldn’t be reached for comment. An SEC representative declined to comment. An E*Trade representative declined to comment.

Columbia Law School Professor John Coffee told Barron's that even if Gill purchased options ahead of his posts, he doesn't see it as manipulation.

"I do not think the disclosure of your identity can be considered manipulative without more, even if you know that the market price will jump because they know of your past impact," Coffee says. "The intent must be to cause the market to jump to a price that you know cannot last. Roaring Kitty may actually believe in GameStock's currently high price."

Coffee likened the situation to a legendary investor like Carl Icahn who is known as a takeover entrepreneur.