--- title: "Elon Musk Directs His 43 Million Followers to Wall Street Bets" description: "Elon Musk is joining Reddit's plot to mess with GameStop stock short sellers just as the situation is getting out of control." date: "2021-01-26" modified: "2021-01-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-wall-street-bets" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "reddit" - "short sellers" - "the digest" - "wall street" --- # Elon Musk Directs His 43 Million Followers to Wall Street Bets ![Elon Musk is joining Reddit's plot to mess with GameStop stock short sellers just as the situation is getting out of control.]() *\Image: Heisenberg Media/Victor Tangermann\* ## Gamestonk The stock prices of GameStop experienced an absolute rollercoaster on Monday. Behind the volatility was a Reddit forum called r/Wallstreetbets, which was hellbent on making a buck through a "short squeeze," a rapid increase in the price of a stock despite a lack of supply. In this case, its target was the brick and mortar video games retailer GameSpot, which has been [bleeding money]() for years now and isn't expected to [turn a profit until 2023](). This squeeze is wreaking havoc with short sellers at banks, actors borrowing securities and selling them on the market with the goal of buying them back later for less, covering their positions. In other words, those who are betting against the success of a company. Now Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants a piece of the cake as well. "Gamestonk!" the [billionaire tweeted]() to his 43 million followers, with a link to the Wallstreetbets subreddit. ## Trading Halt Musk has a long and [extremely frayed relationship]() with short sellers and has repeatedly complained that they've [messed with the valuation]() of Tesla stocks. His motivation in sharing the link is difficult to discern. But Wallstreetbet's ploy, an event [several years in the making](), turned out to be highly unusual. The rocketing stock price triggered at least nine trading halts, as [*Bloomberg* reports](). As of Monday afternoon, investors were willing to pay 451 percent more what analysts consider reasonable. The situation has become so out of control, experts believe the Reddit takeover could end up [triggering an investigation]() by the US Securities and Exchange Commission — [another old foe of Musk](). **More on short selling:** *[TESLA BLAMES CRASH REPORTS ON SHORT-SELLER]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()