Netflix Documentary 'Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga' Explains the Meme Stock Saga That Cost Wall Street $20 BillionThe documentary talks to key players and experts about the social media movement that upended Wall Street.

ByGabrielle Bienasz

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

SOPA Images | Getty Images
GameStop trading.

Eating the rich can now be done with a Netflix subscription — or reliving it, at least.

Netflix released a series Wednesday calledEat the Rich: The GameStop Sagaabout the online movement that drove up the stock price of the video game retailer and spooked Wall Street forever.

Here's what to know about the new series.

What happened in the GameStop saga?

According tothe BBC, the retailer had been floundering during the pandemic, and its December 31, 2020 share price — before all of the controversy — was $4.71 a share.

Hedge funds and other investors can sometimes bet against a company when it's doing poorly in order to make money, and that is exactly what they were doing with GameStop.

Amateur traders active on Reddit noticed that Wall Street was short-selling the stock, and they decided to flip the script. The millions of active users in the r/wallstreetbets channel were encouraged to buy shares to drive the price of the stock up in order to increase personal profit and "squeeze the short positions of hedge funds,"according to The Trade.

Due to an online frenzy, massive coordination, influencers, and evenElon Musk tweeting "Gamestonk!", retail traders bought up tons of GameStop stock, which drove up the price.

This meant that the people who bet on the stock going down — primarily larger, more traditional investors — lost a ton of money. Guy Warren, chief executive officer of FinTech ITRS Group, told The Trade that what happened "[exposed] the vulnerability of the market as well as the weaknesses in firms' trading systems."

"Until now, retail trading activity has never been able to move the market one way or another...the power dynamic has shifted," he added.

Robinhood limited trading on the stock on January 28, 2021, when GameStop's price was about $80 a share. That's a 1,598.51% increase from just a month before.

The whole saga cost hedge funds about $20 billion, according to the Sun-Times.

Since then, there have been other potential meme stock moments, includingAMTD Digital, Bed Bath & Beyond, and AMC.

What is Netflix's new GameStop documentary?

Netflix unpacks the situation in three episodes, each about 40 minutes, and includes original interviews with Redditors and traders. Jim Cramer, the host of"Mad Money" at CNBC, whose snarky comments about the saga earned him ahost of brutal meme-ery, is also featured.

"I don't even understand what I did!" he says in the first episode. "What is their mission? What are they determined to do? Change the face of capitalism?"

So far, reviews have beenmixed.

TheChicago Sun-Times wrotethat it has "a straightforward and clear and entertainingly breezy approach that follows the bouncing stock prices in one of the most bizarre financial stories of our time."

The Vergeripped both Netflix's documentary and an MSNBC film on the meme stock saga from May calledDiamond Hands: The Legend of Wall Street Betsin an online review, saying they relied too much on stock footage and felt "rushed."

There also will be a movie about the saga with Pete Davidson, slated to start filming this month,according to Variety.

Wavy Line
Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine.

Editor's Pick

Related Topics

Leadership

4 Key Indicators It's Time for You to Hire Your First Employees and Stop Doing Everything Alone

决定完美的时机转变from solopreneur to team leader can be challenging, but there are certain signs of whether you are prepared or not to take the plunge and recruit staff. Take a look and see if you've reached these milestones and if you should start thinking about hiring outside help.

Money & Finance

Want to Become a Millionaire? Follow Warren Buffett's 4 Rules.

企业家是不能过度指狗万官方望太多a company exit for their eventual 'win.' Do this instead.

Data & Recovery

Store More With 20TB of Cloud Storage Space, Just $99.99 for Life

Keep more of your data organized in the cloud for a one-time fee.

Business Process

This Department Might Be Holding Your Business Back. Here's How to Change That.

Human resources has become too often disconnected from the bottom line. Here's how to deftly integrate the two to address 21st-century challenges.

Making a Change

Why Jack Canfield's 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' Series Was Originally Rejected

It's not enough to have a dream - you need the motivation to stick it out and achieve it.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2023

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2023.