Regulator Subpoenas Wilmington's Keith Gill Over Gamestop Trade

WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington's Keith Gill, one of the highest-profile cheerleaders and beneficiaries of the recent Gamestop stock craze, is being asked to testify by a Massachusetts security regulator, the regulator confirmed Thursday.

Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin sent Gill a subpoena Monday, asking him to appear on Feb. 26 to answer questions about his trading activities, as first reported by the Boston Globe.

The secretary of the commonwealth's Securities Division had previously sent questions to MassMutual, where Gill was employed until Jan. 28, at the height of the stock's popularity.

The key issue is whether Gill, as a registered security broker, had an obligation to inform MassMutual of what he was doing, the New York Times reported at the time.

According to multiple reports, the company had previously denied Gill permission to manage investments for a family friend.

Gill, a 34-year-old Wilmington dad, posted his investment case for the struggling videogame retailer on YouTube as Roaring Kitty and on Reddit by the expletive-laced handle DeepF-------Value. From a reported $53,000 initial investment in 2019, he appears to have made at least $13 million on his bets on the stock.

The stock opened Thursday at just over $50 per share, down from almost $350 on Jan. 27 but still up nearly 200 percent year-to-date.

Gill also faces questions from congress, where the Financial Services Committee wants testimony from him and other players in the Gamestop mania.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.