This is the definitive take on the wildest story of the year-the David-vs.-Goliath GameStop short squeeze, a staggering tale of fortunes won and lost overnight that may end up changing Wall Street forever. Bestselling author Ben Mezrich offers a gripping, beat-by-beat account of the private investors and internet trolls who took down one of the biggest Wall Street hedge funds, and in so doing, fired the first shot in a revolution that threatens to upend the financial establishment. Told with deep access, from multiple angles, THE ANTISOCIAL NETWORK examines the culmination of a populist movement that began with the intersection of social media and the growth of new, democratizing financial portals-represented by the biggest upstart in the business, RobinHood, and its millions of mostly millennial devotees.
The unlikely focus of the battle: GameStop, a flailing brick and mortar dinosaur catering to teenagers and outsiders, that had somehow held on as the world rapidly moved online. The drama comes to a head in a wild battle between Melvin Capital, a 13-billion-dollar hedge fund, and a disparate group of amateur day traders, video game nuts, and internet trolls who coalesced on a subreddit calling itself WallStreetBets. At first, the subreddit was a joke-a meme-filled, freewheeling place to share shoot-the-moon investment tips, laugh about big losses, and post diamond hand emojis.
Until some members noticed an opportunity-and rode a rocket ship to tens of millions of dollars in earnings overnight... In thrilling, pulse-pounding prose, THE ANTISOCIAL NETWORK offers a fascinating, never-before-seen glimpse at the outsized personalities, dizzying swings, corporate drama, and everyday heroes and heroines who came to the fore during one of the most volatile weeks in financial history. It's the amazing story of what just happened-and where we go from here.