(WCCO / CBS Local) A Minnesota man rode the GameStop stock wave after some big money he used for charity.
Hunter 20-year-old Kahn made big money at last week’s rally fueled by an online Reddit 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 it [GameStop’s stock price] was on the moon, ”Kahn said. “I like video games. I know it would be awful to have a child in a hospital without any joy in helping them. ‘
Kahn’s message on Reddit about his donation contains more than 175,000 “upvotes”, which is Reddit’s version of likes. 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 say it’s a bit like a transfer of power, but if the money from here just goes to the other side, there’s no difference if we just act the same way as the people we criticize,” he said. Kahn said. “It’s important that we do not fit men, and that we use our money to good effect.”
Paul Vaaler, a business and law professor at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, says the GameStop story shows the power of the Internet. He is less positive about this populist investment movement that is sustaining him in the long run.
“Moving a crowd in one direction is hard to do,” Vaaler said. “It simply came to our notice then. Do not hold your breath that this is going to happen again soon. ”
Despite his success, Kahn says he does not want to work on Wall Street or in finance. He is an engineering student whose dream is to build spaceships for Elon Musk.