Mike Murphy and Mitch Roschelle break down the GameStop controversy over ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street’
The brokerage app Robinhood made headlines this week when it emerged as a key player in the battle between small investors and hedge funds over GameStop shares.
The company, which was founded in 2013, launched its app and offers trading access to anyone with a phone.
Robinhood helped democratize finances, and it provided the portal through which online communities were able to organize a brief push on hedge funds and shorten GameStop’s inventory.
After Robinhood made a controversial call on Thursday to stop all purchases of GameStop, Robinhood came to the attention, both in the public eye and in Congress.
Here’s what you need to know about Vlad Tenev, the man who’s already facing the consequences of Robinhood’s decisions over the past week.
Vlad Tenev, co-founder and co-CEO of investment app Robinhood, speaks at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in Brooklyn, New York, USA, May 10, 2016. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid (Reuters)
1. Tenev lives the American dream
Tenev represents the American dream: born in Bulgaria, he migrated to America with his parents when he was 5 years old, according to his profile on Rosenblatt Securities.
Tenev grew up in Washington, DC, and studied mathematics at Stanford University. He went on to UCLA to earn a doctorate in mathematics, but started a business with his friend Baiju Bhatt.
The duo launched their first venture, Celeris, in 2010, but failed to create Chronos Research, a software industry.
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Their next venture, Robinhood, will drop the pair into a new stratosphere of the industry.
When the pair raised additional funding for Robinhood in 2018, the company’s valuation was $ 6 billion, which, according to the focus, made each of its founders into billionaires.
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 10: Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vladimir Tenev speaks on stage during TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2016 at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on May 10, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai / Getty Images for TechCrunch) (Getty Images)
2. Tenev and Bhatt start Robinhood over Occupy Wall Street movement
The idea of ​​’democratizing investment’ began with Tenev and Bhatt’s experiences in FinTech during the recession.
The duo work out of New York City when they tried their first two ventures, the second of which coincided with the Occupy movement.
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While other businesses went on strike, Tenev and Bhatt prospered, leading to one of their friends accusing them of taking advantage of others’ misery, according to Forbes.
After some psychological research, they created Robinhood with two main objectives: no commissions and no minimum balances.
The two points made Robinhood stand out compared to his competitors and helped him to thrive in the early days as it considered itself an instrument for the boy.
MOUNTTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 03: (LR) Vlad Tenev and Celina Tenev attend the 2020 Breakthrough Award in Red Carpet at the NASA Ames Research Center on November 3, 2019 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Ian Tuttle / Getty Images for Breakthroug (Getty Images)
3. Tenev has already seen success … so far
Tenev ahead of the GameStop decision Thursday Tenev enjoyed praise for his work.
At 28, Tenev is recognized as part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 series for finance. Tenev also appears on the Fortune 40 under 40 charts.
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However, its recent decision to discontinue the purchase of GameStop and restrict the purchase of the share thereafter has led to accusations of market manipulation.
Tenev went from a celebrated entrepreneur to the target of intense hatred among retailers who used Robinhood.
Some users have accused Tenev of supporting financial backers and protecting hedge funds, which shows how radically the opinion has changed about the man who has long campaigned for democratic investments.
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Tenev’s legacy will be based on dealing with the next few weeks and the subsequent investigations into Robinhood’s actions over the past month.