Chamath Palihapitiya joined Scott Wapner on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” to discuss his recent purchase of GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) options. The so-called "SPAC King" was part of a heated exchange with Wapner to discuss the recent run-up in the price of GameStop. Palihapitiya, who purchased calls in GameStop with a strike price of $115, told Wapner he sold the options.
Here are 10 memorable quotes and moments from the CNBC interview.
1. “There is no difference between the retail trader and the billion-dollar hedge fund manager,” Palihapitiya said. “We’re seeing sophistication in retail trading.”
2. The investor added that retail investors have more tools for research than they did before. “You’re really discounting how smart some of these people are,” Palihapitiya said, telling Wapner to spend some time on the WallStreetBets subreddit or on Discord.
3. One of the positives from the GameStop price increase and the rise of the retail trader has been people being able to pay off their mortgages and student loans, Palihapitiya said citing Reddit posts.
4. “This is a joke,” Palihapitiya said when asked if it was irresponsible to be investing in GameStop.
5. The lack of integrity in the system was a precursor to GameStop being over 140% short, Palihapitiya said.
6. Palihapitiya told Wapner retail investors have been hurt before when asked about the hedge funds losing billions of dollars from the GameStop trades. “Retail has been the bagholder before,” Palihapitiya said, referring to owning financial stocks during the financial crisis and time when banks were bailed out by the government.
7. “What happened in GameStop wasn’t a disagreement about fundamental valuation,” he said, noting that this movement was portfolio management arbitrage.
8. “I think that what we’re seeing is a pushback against the establishment.”
9. “Every hedge fund was wrong on Tesla,” Palihapitiya told Wapner when discussing the inaccuracies from hedge funds. Palihapitiya is an investor in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and said he has his own valuation model for the company that hedge funds are missing.
10. “The retail phenomenon is here to stay.”
