WallStreetBets Founder Jaime Rogozinski Has Moved on to the Hollywood Scene

Like Victor Frankenstein creating a monster, business consultant and author Jaime Rogozinski never expected WallStreetBets to become what it is currently. In many ways, the Reddit platform has opened up investing for the average person. 

However, Rogozinski's aversion to the excessive use of hate speech ultimately got him removed from the platform in April 2020, less than a year shy of the big boom shadowed by the GameStop short squeeze. Now, Rogozinski has signed with United Talent Agency—the same agency that represents names like Kevin Hart and Jessica Alba.  

Overall, WallStreetBets is full of users with a penchant for risk. Rogozinski admits to founding the subreddit as a way for investors to find other like-minded investors (read: gamblers).

From gargantuan wins to insurmountable losses (dubbed "loss porn"), WallStreetBets' 9.7 million readers have thrived on the prospect of indelible investments. 

As of January, Rogozinski was 39 years old and living in Mexico City with his wife. His wife is a physician and the couple have a pair of twins who are three years old. Rogozinski has opened up about being a Jewish man.

Rogozinski's intercultural relationship was key in his decision to shut down the WallStreetBets Discord chat, which he said was led by racist individuals. He told The Wall Street Journal, "There were a handful of mods who were straight up white supremacists." 

Recently, the popular podcast by NYC Studios called RadioLab published an episode about the origins of free speech as we know it in the U.S. According to the show, "Our say-almost-anything approach to free speech is actually relatively recent." RadioLab explained that free speech was once much more touch and go. The current venture into hate speech territory wouldn't have been backed by the standard.

Rogozinski's acts against racism and other hate speech on WallStreetBets were looked down upon by moderators, who voted him out for trying to suppress it. Rogozinski's actions of deleting the Discord channel and removing some of the subreddit moderators led to his demise, but he isn't exactly broken up about the matter. He still works his day job and he's looking toward potential movie deals about his life (hence the Hollywood deal).

Rogozinski said, "I have really thick skin and people can say whatever they want to me, but at some point there’s a moral standpoint—like with my kids, I don’t want them to think, ‘Well, they can say whatever they want about you.'" 

Right now, Rogozinski is more fame than fortune, although it's possible his high-risk investments have landed him and his family some tasty returns. Now that he has signed with United Talent Agency, his fate could change. He also sold his life story to RatPac Entertainment, although the details of the deal are private.