Back in 2021, GameStop was the hottest stock on the market. It was a distinction that defied financial principles and fundamentals—the direct result of hedge funds betting on the company's failure and everyday investors joining forces to ensure the opposite outcome. It was the perfect storm for GameStop stock to become a meme that made some rich and left others holding the bag, with some shady forces also working in the background.
That saga is depicted brilliantly in the new comedy-drama film Dumb Money, which stars Seth Rogen, America Ferrera, and Pete Davidson. The movie is a dramatic retelling of how this modern-day David vs. Goliath epic shook up the lives of various players. It's a great watch.
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In preparation for the new film, we rounded up a few Black men who took part in the meme-stock mayhem—or watched closely from the sidelines—to relive those tense market days, giving some color commentary on that historic moment. The first entries of our new video franchise microDOCS features former LEVEL cover stars Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal of the financial literacy brand Earn Your Leisure sharing some insight, as well as the recollections of retail investors Francisco Lopez, Leander George, and Keith Nelson Jr.
Says Bilal: “This was an opportunity for just the regular, everyday person with no financial background, with very little knowledge of the stock market to 10X their money, 100X their money.”
Check out The Rise of GameStop and The Fall of GameStop below. And then peep Dumb Money, which is now playing in limited theaters ahead of its wide release on Sept. 29. (Update: Dumb Money is now streaming on Netflix!)