When Ben, 28, a software engineer from Leeds, bought two shares in US games retailer GameStop for £460, it was for one reason, he says: “When they make the film about this in years to come, I’ll know I was there at the frontline with a bunch of idiots on the internet, trying to bring down Wall Street.”
For Emma Rivers from East Sussex, who invested £1,400 in the same company – having known little about it a few weeks ago – it has all been about sending a message that capitalism has had its day.
“I liken this week’s events to going on a protest – but one you make using your computer. It’s the most exciting thing to happen in a long time and I feel like we’re on the verge of toppling Wall Street,” said Rivers, who is hoping to start a master’s degree in anthropology.
Emma and Ben are just two of the thousands of small investors from around the world, including many in the UK, who have spent much of the past week staring at the soaring share price of a relatively unknown US retail chain, GameStop.
What started out as a call to the gaming community to save one of the last big bricks-and-mortar retailers from the US hedge funds that were known to be “shorting” its shares quickly turned into a mass movement that has sent shockwaves through the financial world, on both sides of the Atlantic.