Keith Gill has some tough choices to make on his GameStop options with Wall Street ready to pounce

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Meme stock champion Roaring Kitty, whose real name is Keith Gill, held onto his positions of 5 million GameStop common shares and 120,000 call options. If his position is in the money, many suspect that Gill won’t have the capital to exercise the options and E-Trade may have to intervene. Gill could start selling his calls early to turn a quick profit and avoid the drama in a week and a half, but many argue that it’s not a good look for the champion of the stock. Keith Gill, a Reddit user credited with inspiring GameStop’s rally, during a YouTube livestream arranged on a laptop at the New York Stock Exchange on June 7, 2024. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

As Roaring Kitty continues to watch his favorite GameStop shares swing wildly, he might be contemplating what to do with his massive options position that is approaching expiration.

The meme stock champion, whose real name is Keith Gill, has so far held onto his positions of 5 million GameStop common shares and 120,000 call options, according to a screenshot he shared Monday evening. The mammoth options position — involving 12 million underlying GameStop shares — could be a nightmare for Gill to offload or exercise even if the calls end up profitable or “in the money.”

His call options against GameStop have a strike price of $20 and an expiration date of June 21. Shares of the video game company have gained about 7% so far this week to around $30 a share. If the stock trades above $20 that Friday, which makes his call position in the money, Gill could exercise the options at $20 apiece, allowing him to purchase an additional 12 million shares at the discounted price. However, many think it’s unlikely he has enough capital to pull off such a move.

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For Gill to exercise the calls, he would need to have $240 million to take custody of the stock (12 million shares bought at $20 apiece). His last screenshot showed he has $29.4 million in cash in his E-Trade account, though he could deposit more money from other undisclosed accounts.

During Friday’s livestream, Roaring Kitty told some 600,000 viewers that he doesn’t have any institutional backers, but he didn’t entirely rule out

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The full article is available here. This article was published at CNBC Finance.