Ken Griffin dismissed accusations that his huge hedge fund Citadel Investments contributed to ruining the “Reddit Rally”, calling it “insane conspiracy theory”.
Fresh from his Thursday Capitol testimony about last month’s surprising rise in GameStop and AMC Entertainment shares, the Wall Street billionaire on Friday rejected the idea that he was playing on both sides of the chaotic handshake.
Some retail investors fed by Reddit have accused their hedge fund of investing $ 2 billion in Melvin Capital – a high-profile hedge fund whose bets against GameStop shares they attacked – even when its stockbroker was tasked with executing many GameStop negotiations in Robinhood that were squeezing the crippled hedge fund.
In particular, rumors emerged that Griffin’s fund was involved in Robinhood’s decision to limit users’ ability to buy GameStop shares, and that he was conspiring to block retail investors to protect Melvin and his founder, the former student from Citadel Gabe Plotkin.
“If I had to run my business for the possibility that an insane conspiracy theory could emerge at any time,” Griffin told CNBC, “I would have no business.”
When asked directly whether his investment in Melvin at the height of the short tightening may have been a mistake, Griffin replied dryly “No, I think Gabe Plotkin is one of the best investors of his generation.”
As for the financiers’ powerful thoughts about the bullish Bitcoin market, Griffin said he has none.
“I just don’t spend a lot of time thinking about cryptocurrencies,” said Griffin. “I don’t see the economic support for cryptocurrencies. I understand how to evaluate an action … I don’t know how to think about what a digital token actually is. “
Bitcoin reached another historic record on Friday, raising its total market value above the $ 1 trillion mark after Tesla boss Elon Musk called the cryptocurrency “less dumb” than money.