MassMutual Fined for Failing to Monitor GameStop Saga Star

MassMutual Fined for Failing to Monitor GameStop Saga Star
Keith Gill, also known in social media forums as Roaring Kitty, testifies during a virtual hearing on GameStop in Washington on Feb. 18, 2021. House Financial Services Committee via AP
The Associated Press
Updated:

NEW YORK—Massachusetts regulators are fining MassMutual $4 million and ordering it to overhaul its social-media policies after accusing the company of failing to supervise an employee whose online cheerleading of GameStop’s stock helped launch the frenzy that shook Wall Street earlier this year.

The settlement announced Thursday by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin centers on the actions of Keith Gill, who was an employee at a MassMutual subsidiary from April 2019 until January 2021. His tenure ended as GameStop’s stock price suddenly soared nearly 800 percent in a week, as hordes of smaller-pocketed and novice investors piled in, to the shock and awe of professionals.