The Bullshitting Gorilla's Venture onto Wall Street

Every generation encounters moments so powerful they blur the line between reality and fantasy. The meme stocks that gripped the equity markets in late 2020 and early 2021, like AMC and GameStop, was one of those periods. It was a financial circus fueled by hope, greed, and the allure of "fast money."

I was born forty years earlier, wedged between Gen Xers and millennials, at the dawn of a decade defined by the Cold War, shaped by the rise of cable networks, and propelled by the forces of globalization. The 1980s also marked the beginning of a multi-decade surge in equity and real estate markets, punctuated by booms and busts. With each cycle, my fascination around the behavioral drivers of the market deepened. Each one felt distinct, yet the timeless emotions of fear and greed kept surfacing.

The World Was on Fire

In mid-2021, right as the world was awakening from COVID, the mood was more than just electric—it was on fire. Equity investors found themselves riding high in one of the best investing environments since the halcyon days of the late 1990s, amid the thirteenth year of one of the longest bull markets in history. Every asset class was experiencing a surge in value. Home prices nationwide were back in vogue, bond enthusiasts were feeling the vibes, and most commodities hovered near record highs.

All of this paled in comparison to the action taking place in the meme stock world, as speculation and an insatiable appetite for unknown risks received an adrenaline shot from the nearly $6 trillion pumped into the economy to counteract the effects of the COVID stay-at-home orders. Nostalgic names like Bed Bath & Beyond, AMC, and GameStop were up ten, thirty, or even one hundred times from their lows and were discussed at great length on the Reddit channel WallStreetBets.

This was the world of apes and apettes. A new legion of retail investors who scoffed at minuscule single-digit gains and derived their nickname from the rallying cry "Apes together strong," popularized by the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. They bought not based on fundamentals but on a romanticized belief that their coordinated efforts were sticking it to the Wall Street elites. They lived by one rule only: YOLO—You Only Live Once.

The Silverback Takes the Stage

The hope of a brighter future was what the ape community was waiting to hear on a cool, sunny June 4 as they watched a live video interview with the CEO of AMC, whom they affectionately nicknamed the "Silverback Gorilla." AMC had just touched an all-time high of $72 the day before, up 3,325% since the start of the year.

Trey Collins—an avid long-distance runner turned day trader who became interested in the markets when an injury sidelined him in 2020—had launched a YouTube channel chronicling his experiences. In just a few months, Trey turned $8,000 into $1 million by trading AMC stock and options during the meme short squeeze. By the time of his second discussion with AMC's CEO, he had amassed an audience of well over three hundred thousand subscribers.

The ape community eagerly awaited the interview, hoping the CEO would confirm that AMC's stock would rise following the end of COVID lockdowns. Never mind that the total value of the business was nearly ten times higher than before COVID, that box office trends were on a steady decline since 2009, or that content for home streaming was on the rise. Forget the fact that the company had just issued shares worth $1 billion and that insiders were selling hand over fist during the prior weeks.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Around the 13:58 mark is the most interesting part of the video. Just as the Silverback was assuring investors that their investment was in good hands and that "the future is very bright," the camera falls off the CEO's monitor, and the screen goes black. Some rustling is heard, and after a moment, the camera is placed back on the monitor. In that brief instant, we catch a glimpse of the Silverback's bare legs. All that was missing was a little girl shouting "But the Emperor has nothing at all on!"

Shares of AMC never returned to the high of $72. In the ensuing months, the stock fell and rallied several times before finishing the year down nearly 63%. The following year, it ended at $4—roughly 95% below the all-time high. From 2020 to 2023, the company reported a cumulative net loss of $2.6 billion, while the CEO's total compensation increased by 2.5 times to $68 million over those three years. The future was certainly bright for at least one of the apes.

The Psychology of FOMO

What drove investors into this trap? Fear of Missing Out—the psychological pain someone experiences when they see others enjoying a rewarding experience. The pressure from this phenomenon often leads to poor decision-making and is rooted in a well-known behavioral bias called crowd or herd mentality.

One psychologist, Gustave Le Bon, noted that the behavior of the individual is easily influenced and largely swayed as the group coalesces into one unit. This dynamic excites emotional reactions that lead to irrational behavior, such as buying stocks regardless of the risks involved.

The most sobering part of this story isn't the stock chart. I came across a photo during my research of a mother kissing her college-bound son, donned in cap and gown. She had posted in an AMC chat thread: "I'm a disabled war veteran and my only son graduated from high school a few weeks ago. I don't have much but I'M HOLDING FOR HIM!!!! College ain't cheap."

The most shocking part was not that she bought AMC, or that she potentially lost money. It was that there were 174 likes encouraging her to hold—and not one voice telling her the risk she was taking.

The Lesson

Herd mentality is a recurring phenomenon that has afflicted generations throughout history—the crypto craze, the mid-2000s housing boom, the dot-com bubble, and the Roaring Twenties. This behavior is likely to become even more pervasive as advancing technologies enable greater social coordination and amplify herd dynamics.

While spotting an irrational bubble might seem straightforward due to the mass hysteria and disconnected price levels, predicting exactly when it will burst is extremely difficult. More psychologically challenging is going against the crowd during such periods—which is why these bubbles last longer than most people expect and inflate to levels that become more damaging than anyone can imagine.

The meme frenzy was not just a market bubble. It was a prime example of how deeply embedded bullshit is in our society, and how real the consequences can be. The best defense against a world full of it is to stay aware, develop strategies that help us avoid catastrophic situations—and recognize the pantsless gorilla before the crowd catches on.

*This essay is adapted from Chapter One of* The Golden Age of Bull$hit *(2025).*