Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sought and received an ethics waiver before she called a meeting between top federal regulators to discuss market volatility surrounding GameStop and other so-called meme stocks, according to Reuters.
Yellen’s move to obtain an ethics waiver followed reports that she received more than $800,000 in speaking fees from Citadel, a hedge fund directly connected to the GameStop saga. Citadel is invested heavily in Melvin Capital, another hedge fund that saw 53% of its $12.5 billion portfolio wiped away in January amid the GameStop short squeeze.
Citadel contributed to a $2.75 billion investment in Melvin Capital last week as its heavily-shorted position in GameStop got crushed amid the retail trader-driven short squeeze.
Citadel had paid Yellen $292,500 for a speech on Oct. 17, 2019, another $180,000 for a speech on Dec. 3, 2019, and $337,500 for her appearances during a series of webinars between Oct. 9-27, 2020, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.
Yellen made history on Jan. 25 when the Senate confirmed her to serve as the first female Treasury secretary.
dailycaller.com/2021/02/03/janet-yellen-ethics-waiver-gamestop/