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WallStreetsBets Is Getting To Billionaires Like Leon Cooperman

Published January 28, 2021 10:29 PM
Aaron Weaver
Published January 28, 2021 10:29 PM
  • Stocks like Gamestop and AMC have soared in recent days due to a unified effort from retail investors from places like Reddit and 4chan.
  • Billion-dollar hedge funds that shorted these stocks are hemorrhaging money.
  • Wealth manager Leon Cooperman appeared on CNBC to give his take, and he was not happy, proving that these financial anarchists are getting to him.

Reddit’s WallStreetBets appears to be stressing out billionaire Leon Cooperman.

And it should be.

The Omega Family Office CEO has been raking in money by the truckload since he founded his hedge fund in 1991. And he hasn’t always done it with integrity.

His appearance on CNBC today is rife with hypocrisy, and it seems Leon Cooperman does not like the taste of his own medicine.

Leon Cooperman Has a Mini-Meltdown On CNBC

Leon Cooperman is going viral. And it’s mainly because of his unforgettable sound bytes from his recent CNBC appearance.

Some of his highlights include calling “fair share” a “bulls%$t concept.”

He said it’s “a way of attacking wealthy people.” Cooperman said the recent surges in stocks like Gamestop and AMC are “inappropriate” before claiming we all need to work together.

Check out the highlights below:

https://twitter.com/CopingMAGA/status/1354864967011475456?s=20

And to be fair, many wealthy men like him are definitely feeling the squeeze.

According to The Wall Street Journal , a handful of major hedge funds are reeling. D1 Capital Partners is down roughly 20% for the year. Point72 Asset Management is down about 10%.

But other firms have been hit even harder.

According to sources from The WSJ, Maplelane, which kicked off 2021 with about $3.5 billion, is down nearly a whopping 45%.

Many of these firms were short stocks like Gamestop (GME) and AMC, and they were definitely feeling the squeeze. The ethics and the delivery of this market action are up for debate, but let’s not start feeling sorry for people like Leon Cooperman.

Reddit & WallStreetBets Were Targeting People Like Cooperman

The stock surges delivered by users from Reddit’s WallStreetBets, Discord, 4chan, and other social media platforms has been nothing if not effective. It’s unclear if the main motivation was to put power back in the hands of the people or to play a twisted joke on the rich. It’s likely a combination of both.

But these market disrupters definitely had people like Leon Cooperman in mind when they started the chaos.

Cooperman has been a poster child for the ‘greedy, unlikable rich guy’ archetype for years.

Bernie Sanders even featured him in a video mocking whiny billionaires:

As you already know, Leon Cooperman was not a fan of people getting their ‘fair share.’ In fact, he might not even be a fan of getting his own share in a fair way.

In 2017, the SEC lobbied insider trading charges against him . And he handled it in the most ‘billionaire’ way possible. Cooperman paid the SEC $5 million and never admitted guilt.

And let’s be clear, these retail investors don’t necessarily despise billionaires. Some of them are cheering on this revolution. Mark Cuban, who predicted action like this back in August, said this movement is “giving the little guy an edge.”

Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is cheering on the stock market. | Source: Twitter 

Elon Musk has been cheering on this rally all along:

Elon Musk
Redditors have no problem with Elon Musk. | Source: Twitter 

In fact, Cuban himself went on CNBC  to go further in-depth about why he thinks this is all fair game:

There are many hedge funds that have made a lot of money over the years targeting heavily shorted stocks. And so, I don’t think this is anything different, it’s just the people who are making the push aren’t who we expect them to be. And so that’s why I like it…It’s a good thing.

Although it clearly isn’t a good thing for Leon Cooperman.


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.