The Trolls of Wall Street: How the Outcasts and Insurgents Are Hacking the Markets

This incisive report from New York Times journalist Popper (Digital Gold) delves into the personalities behind the Reddit community WallStreetBets, which upended the financial world by kick-starting the 2021 GameStop stock market rally. Popper’s account centers on finely observed profiles of Jaime Rogozinski, who founded the subreddit in 2012, and Jordan Zazzara, who joined as a moderator in 2016. Rogozinski is described as a finance professional from an affluent background who alienated himself from friends to hide his alcoholism and spent most nights posting on Reddit. By contrast, Zazzara came from more humble means, having dropped out of community college and struggling to hold down a steady job, but felt similarly isolated and primarily interacted with people online. Popper covers the financial mechanics of the GameStop rally and Zazzara’s successful effort to oust Rogozinski from WallStreetBets amid escalating discontent regarding his use of the community for self-promotion, but the author’s main focus is on the subreddit’s odious culture. While other journalists have portrayed WallStreetBets as the David to Wall Street’s Goliath, Popper depicts the subreddit as a refuge for young men starved of connection whose disaffection deteriorated during the Trump presidency into a wellspring of racism and misogyny. Vividly reported and remarkably evenhanded, this stands out as one of the more critical assessments of the GameStop rally. Agent: Pilar Queen, United Talent Agency. (June)