(WCCO / CBS Local) – A man from Minnesota caught up with the GameStop stock wave and earned a lot of money that he is using in charity donations.
Hunter Kahn, 20, made a big profit at last week’s rally, driven by a Reddit online forum called “Wall Street Bets”. He bought six Nintendo Switches and games to donate to Children’s Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis.
“It was a better feeling than waking up in the morning and seeing that [GameStop’s stock price] it was on the moon, ”said Kahn. “I love video games. I know it would be terrible to be a child in a hospital with no joy helping her.”
Kahn’s post on Reddit about his donation has more than 175,000 “positive votes”, which is the tanned version of Reddit. Many amateur investors like Kahn bought GameStop shares to beat rich hedge funds at their own game.
Hunter Kahn (credit: CBS)
“A lot of people are saying this is more or less like a transfer of power, but if the money goes from here to the other side, it makes no difference whether we are acting in the same way as the people we are criticizing,” Kahn said. “It is important that we do not become men in suits and use our money for good.”
Paul Vaaler, professor of business and law at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, says the GameStop story shows the power of the Internet. He is less optimistic about this populist investment movement that is sustained in the long run.
“Getting a crowd to move in one direction is a difficult thing to do,” said Vaaler. “In this case, they did. Do not hold your breath, as this will happen again soon. “
Despite his success, Kahn says he doesn’t want to work on Wall Street or in finance. He is an engineering student whose dream is to build spaceships for Elon Musk.