Citadel CEO Ken Griffin & “Game Stopped”: Robinhood Goes to Washington

Squawk Pod

CNBC

Business News, Investing, Business, News

4 • 494 Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Two participants in the House Financial Services Committee “Game Stopped” hearing debrief on the marathon day on Capitol Hill. Ken Griffin, the billionaire CEO of hedge fund Citadel, defends his $2 billion investment in short seller Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital amid the height of the GameStop mania. Griffin says that there is “no doubt” that the amount of short selling will be reduced thanks to the power that Reddit-fueled retail traders demonstrated with GameStop. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) discusses his concerns about the “democratization of financial addiction,” the subject of his questions to Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev during the House hearing. Plus, a big happy birthday to Andrew Ross Sorkin!

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Squawk Pod. I'm C. NBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on our podcast.
0:07.0	Game stopped. Robin Hood, Reddit, Citadel, Melvin Capital,
0:12.0	even Roaring Kitty showed up virtually on Capitol Hill.
0:14.8	Could you just answer yes or no?
0:16.8	Chairwoman Waters, I appreciate the opportunity to address that.
0:20.3	Just yes or no.
0:21.6	We always felt comfortable with our liquidity and the additional
0:25.0	capital that Robin Hood raised. Please answer yes or no. What happened, what's next,
0:30.0	and was at stake for retail investors, one of the lawmakers at that hearing,
0:34.0	Ritchie Torres.
0:35.0	It is true that Payment Board of Flow is the basis for zero commission trading,
0:40.0	but even though there's no visible price, no commission at the front end of the transaction,
0:44.8	there is a hidden cost to retail investors
0:47.2	at the back end of the transaction.
0:49.2	And it's not clear to me
0:50.9	whether there's sufficient transparency around the hidden cost.
0:54.0	And one of the men in the hot seat, Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin,
0:58.0	fresh off his Capitol Hill testimony about the power of the retail trader.
1:02.0	I never underestimate the skill of the retail trader. I never underestimate the skill of the American retail investor at understanding
1:06.6	emerging trends and their ability to take advantage of that wealth transformation.
1:11.8	Robin Hood goes to Washington.
1:14.0	Plus you say it's your birthday.
	...

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