Gaming Wall Street

A massive group of online investors band together to skyrocket the stock price of flailing video game retailer GameStop, upending the stock market’s elite players – and the global financial system – in the process. As tensions rise between Redditors, hedge fund managers, and the creators of popular trading app Robinhood, a movement is born that pits legions of “Davids” against the Goliath of Wall Street.

After the ability to buy GameStop and other meme stocks is abruptly halted, Robinhood, Citadel Securities, and Melvin Capital come under fire for alleged conflicts of interest. The fallout sparks a larger conversation about the outsized power of Wall Street’s hedge funds and prime brokers – and the ways their power has been abused. While Redditors bring public attention to this abuse of power, a small group of lawyers, financial analysts, and Wall Street whistleblowers work to expose rotten parts of the financial system from the inside.