On Friday, a class action lawsuit was brought against Keith Gill, a.k.a. Roaring Kitty, claiming that his massively popular social media activities drove up the price of GameStop (GME) stock for his own personal gain. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs on Monday.
The case, Radev v. Gill, was effectively on the court docket for one business day—and withdrawn hours after the court issued Gill a summons requiring him to respond to the complaint within 21 days.
The two-sentence notice from the plaintiffs’ attorneys notified the court that they were dropping the lawsuit without prejudice.
The news broke shortly before markets closed in the U.S., where GME ended the day at $23.33, down 5% for the day and 16% over the past month.
The quick about-face is another short chapter in the colorful and often chaotic story of Gill, who first rose to fame in 2021 as a leader in the initial “meme stock” movement. Retail investors, empowered by access to the stock market through apps like Robinhood, rallied behind the stocks of companies like GameStop, confounding Wall Street.
In the now-dropped lawsuit, the plaintiffs recounted Gill’s role in the stock market surge in 2021, then tracked his activities earlier this year, from his return to Twitter in May, his return to Reddit in June, and attempted to correlate his social media posts—and his later disclosures of stock and option holdings—to the volatile movements of GME stock.
The lawsuit included numerous screenshots of Twitter memes and Reddit posts. The plaintiffs even cited reports that financial regulators were looking into Gill’s activities, and that ETrade was contemplating booting him from their trading platform.
Ultimately, Gill “engaged in a pump-and-dump scheme” with GameStop stock, the lawsuit alleged, violating federal securities laws and causing “significant losses and damages” to victims that “acquired GameStop securities at artificially inflated prices.”
As the case was dismissed without prejudice, it does not preclude the plaintiffs from refiling their lawsuit against Gill at a later date.
In the meantime, Gill has apparently shifted the focus of his affection from GameStop to online pet food retailer Chewy—revealing Monday that he purchased 9 million shares in the company last month.
Gill and the plaintiffs’ law firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.
Barbara Terrio is a seasoned business journalist, delving into the world of finance, startups, and entrepreneurship. With a knack for demystifying complex economic trends, she helps readers navigate the business landscape. Outside of her reporting, Barbara is an advocate for financial literacy and enjoys mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs.
