Chamath Palihapitiya And His Rise As A ‘FinTwit’ Influencer

The inflow of retail traders into the marketplaces has coincided with a increase in selected influencers with massive followings on Finance Twitter, a trading-oriented portion of the well-liked social media system.

Benzinga is pointing out some of the most significant names, in a sequence on these “FinTwit” influencers.

This time, it’s “SPAC King” Chamath Palihapitiya.

Person Of The People today: Like Tesla Inc‘s (NASDAQ: TSLA) Elon Musk, Palihapitiya uses Twitter to converse about shares. His 1.4 million followers are consistently updated on his inventory marketplace moves and investment programs.

His tips is sought after for very good reason. With a resume that offers former higher-level positions at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) and Slack Systems Inc (NYSE: Operate), Palihapitiya is a CEO, venture capitalist, particular purpose acquisition organization (SPAC) sponsor and engineer.

Most famously known as the “King of SPACs,” Palihapitiya has brought six companies general public beneath his Social Funds Hedosophia umbrella, like Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPCE), Opendoor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: Open) and most not long ago Clover Well being Investments Corp (NASDAQ: CLOV).

Connected tale: Elon Musk And His Increase As A ‘FinTwit’ Influencer

Swaying The Crowd: Palihapitiya’s tweets carry him the two adoration and criticism. Like Musk, he has attained fans with his populist solution and championing of everyday traders. Palihapitiya without doubt assisted r/WallStreetBets and an military of retail traders struggle hedge funds through the GameStop Corporation (NYSE: GME) mania.

“Lots of $GME speak soooooo…. We purchased Feb $115 phone calls on $GME this morning. Let’s gooooooo!!!!!!!!,” he tweeted Jan. 26. He adopted that tweet up with “ride or die.”

Palihapitiya is also a significant supporter of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), seen by some as a device for electronic independence and social justice since it is not controlled by authorities.

“When $BTC receives to $150k, I will get The Hamptons and transform it to sleepaway camps for young ones, performing farms and minimal-charge housing,” he wrote on Twitter on Dec. 30, taking a jab at the special seaside home to some of the wealthiest Us residents.

Tale carries on

On Mar. 6, when Palihapitiya confirmed on Twitter he’d offered off his own stake of 6.2 million shares of Virgin Galactic for $21 million in profits, the share value of the enterprise fell 36%. His followers were offended and worried he’d missing religion in the firm, but Palihapitiya took to Twitter to serene their nerves.

“I freed up some funds by providing some shares in $SPCE so I can hold investing at scale without impacting my speed and strategic view,” he tweeted.

Palihapitiya is reportedly employing the money for a local weather modify enterprise in Britain. Retail traders will be viewing closely to see if what’s he performing on gets to be the future biggest matter to make investments in.

Navigating As a result of Headwinds: He also calmed nerves in early February when limited vendor company Hindenburg Research launched a report criticizing Palihapitiya’s IPOC-Clover Health and fitness merger.

“For those subsequent $CLOV, believe in the approach and the facts,” he wrote the pursuing day.

The Monetary Instances took recognize.

“He’s managed, with poise, to straddle a line amongst televised rants on Wall Street while also shilling risky reverse-mergers to retail investors on an just about bimonthly foundation,” the paper wrote at the time.

Image by JD Lasica/Flickr.

See much more from Benzinga

© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not supply expense tips. All legal rights reserved.