London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 11, 2026

Elon Musk, hater of short sellers, weighs in on AOC's Robinhood stance

Elon Musk, hater of short sellers, weighs in on AOC's Robinhood stance

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet Thursday that he "absolutely" supports Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's call for the House Financial Services Committee to launch an investigation into Robinhood for its stock trade restrictions. 

Robinhood's move prevents investors from initiating new positions in shares of GameStop, AMC Entertainment Holdings, American Airlines, BlackBerry Ltd., Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Express Inc., Koss Corp., Naked Brand Group, Nokia Corp, Trivago, and Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. and will only allow them to sell existing holdings. The company also raised margin requirements for certain securities.


"This is unacceptable. We now need to know more about @RobinhoodApp’s decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit," Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

The second-term congresswoman added, " As a member of the Financial Services Cmte, I’d support a hearing if necessary."

The market chaos started after a group of Reddit users on a speculative investing discussion forum called WallStreetBets banded together to buy up GameStop's call options earlier this week, causing the struggling retailer's shares to soar to unprecedented levels and hurting market short-sellers.

The market gyrations spurred by GameStop stock have since prompted the TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab's mobile apps to experience outages during Wednesday's trading session in response to "unprecedented volumes." The moves caught the attention of the White House, Treasury and SEC which all announced they would be monitoring the situation.

Among the people cheering the emboldened Reddit users on is Musk himself, who tweeted "Gamestonk!" on Tuesday in an effort to add fuel to the fire.


Musk, a hater of short sellers, has previously battled it out with investors who chose to bet against Tesla. In December 2019, Musk called for short selling to be deemed an "illegal" activity.


In a series of separate tweets on Thursday, Musk reiterated his animosity of short selling, writing "u can’t sell houses u don’t own u can’t sell cars u don’t own but u *can* sell stock u don’t own!? this is bs – shorting is a scam legal only for vestigial reasons." He also called for his followers to give so-called shorty apologists "no respect."

"Get shorty," he added.

The latest taunting towards short sellers comes after Musk sold limited edition short shorts on Tesla's website after its stock hit a record high in July.

Ocasio-Cortez added on Thursday that "inquiries into freezes should not be limited solely to Robinhood."


"This is a serious matter," she posted, "Committee investigators should examine any retail services freezing stock purchases in the course of potential investigations, especially those allowing sales, but freezing purchases."

Other brokers that also have restricted trading include TD Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers.


Ocasio-Cortez plans to hop on Twitch on Thursday evening, where she will "discuss today's developemnts with GameStop and retail trading."

In addition to calls for an investigation into Robinhood, one user has filed a class action lawsuit against the app Thursday for "purposefully, willingly, and knowingly removing the stock GME from its trading platform in the midst of an unprecedented stock rise."



GameStop shares have soared 1,642% from Jan. 12 through Wednesday, while AMC Entertainment and BlackBerry gained 769% and 229%, respectively. The other names have also seen outsized gains.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
English Councils to Gain Power to Introduce Tourist Taxes by 2028
Kemi Badenoch Reshuffles Conservative Shadow Cabinet
Firefighters Make Progress Containing Major Wildfires in South Wales
John Lewis Partnership Reports £124 Million Loss
Study Says UK AI Data Centres Will Create Only a Quarter of Forecast Jobs
UK Government Considers Higher Industrial Water Prices Amid Supply Pressures
Andy Burnham Holds First Call With Donald Trump as UK Prime Minister
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record as Heatwaves Drive Hospital Admissions
Home Secretary Orders Police Crackdown on Far-Right Anti-Migrant Vigilantes
UK Supreme Court Rules Northern Ireland Religious Education Curriculum Breaches Human Rights Standards
Markets Price in Four Bank of England Rate Rises by Next Summer
House of Commons Prepares Free Vote on Assisted Dying Bill
UK Government Bans Trade With Israeli Settlements in Occupied Territories
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Artificial Intelligence Investment Supports Expansion
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister After Keir Starmer Resigns
John Lewis Partnership Loss Widens to £124 Million
UK Government to Put White Working-Class Social Mobility at Centre of Equality Policy
McLaren Plans £450 Million Technology Investment Creating 1,000 UK Jobs
UK Chancellor Faces Calls for Wealth Taxes and Public Ownership in Autumn Budget
English Mayors to Gain Powers to Impose Uncapped Overnight Tourist Taxes
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Government Against Bank Windfall Taxes
UK Air Traffic Control Outage Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
UK Imposes Trade Ban on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank
UK Borrowing Costs Surge as Middle East Tensions Push Long-Term Gilt Yields to Highest Since 1998
Buckingham Palace Says Prince Harry and Meghan Will Not Resume Official Royal Duties
UK Treasury Faces Calls to Scrap £100,000 Childcare Support Threshold
Trades Union Congress Urges Labour Government to Rewrite Migration Policy
Riot Police Deployed After Anti-Migrant Protests Turn Violent in Portsmouth
UK Considers Replacing Some Disability Cash Payments With Direct Services
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Chancellor Against Higher Banking Taxes
UK Announces New Sanctions Targeting Israeli Settlements in West Bank
Metropolitan Police Investigate Alleged Illegal Donations to Reform UK
UK Charges Wiltshire Man With Assisting Russian Intelligence
UK Orders Urgent Review After Air Traffic Failure Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
King Charles Confirms Prince Harry and Meghan Will Remain Private Citizens
Labour Selects Former Child Refugee for By-Election in Keir Starmer’s Former Seat
Foreign Private Equity Accelerates Takeovers of London-Listed Industrial Companies
NHS Maternity Care Faces Scrutiny Over Support for Mothers After Caesarean Births
BBC Warns Staff Strikes Are Likely Amid Job Cuts and Programme Cancellations
English Housing Affordability Improves to Best Level in More Than a Decade
UK Health Commission Proposes Framework for Wider AI Adoption Across NHS
Labour Faces Pressure for Wealth Tax Ahead of Autumn Budget
Metropolitan Police Open Criminal Investigation Into Alleged Foreign Donations to Reform UK
UK Police Deploy Riot Officers After Anti-Immigration Unrest in Portsmouth and Dover
UK Defends Sanctions on Israeli Settlements Despite Diplomatic Retaliation
UK Air Traffic Control Failure Cancels More Than 1,000 Flights and Disrupts 65,000 Passengers
Compass Urges £10 Million Wealth Tax and Public Ownership Ahead of UK Autumn Budget
UK Government’s Devolution Plans Face House of Lords Scrutiny
Maldives Seeks New Chagos Sovereignty Talks With UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham
×