How MJ connects to GameStop stock market story originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Unless you've been interned under a large boulder, you've seen in at least a passing capacity the recent, widespread story of a hoard of Reddit users buying up droves of stock in GameStop, AMC and other companies in an attempt to counter-punch -- and profit off of -- prominent hedge funds strategically short-selling stocks.
As it turns out, there are a number of NBA ties at the center of this storm. TrueHoop's Tom Haberstroh laid them out in a reported piece here and radio interview with Dan Le Betard here, both of which are worth delving into.
The most eye-popping name potentially connected? That's right: Michael Jordan.
In 2019, Jordan, the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, sold a stake in the team to Gabe Plotkin, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Melvin Capital, a hedge fund which has reportedly required an infusion of almost $3 billion after likely incurring massive losses as a result of the retail investors' short-squeeze.
The terms of that sale aren't publicly known. Neither is the exact nature of Jordan and Plotkin's current business relationship. But here's what Jordan said in a statement announcing the transaction in September 2019:
To this day, Plotkin's stake in the Hornets remains. An interesting wrinkle, especially -- speculatively speaking -- if Jordan and Plotkin have engaged in any other ventures together.
Time will tell if any of these tenuous links run deeper. By all accounts, this story is still unfurling.
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