| Author | Source |
|---|---|
| u/Region-Formal |
Apes, some of you may recall a DD I put out about a month ago, showing the vested interest that may be leading to The Motley Fool advancing Shitadel’s cause:
ShillNBC
Now I want to share some info that strongly indicates vested interests may also be connecting Shitadel to everyone’s favourite business news channel, CNBC. As I think most of us are aware, Shitadel actually consists of two different and separate entities:
Citadel LLCÂ - One of the largest alternative investment Hedge Funds
Citadel Securities LLCÂ - One of the largest Market Makers
Both Hedge Funds and Market Makers rely on strong and cost-effective relationships with other types of large financial institutions:
-Â Prime Brokers:Â https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-prime-brokerage-4165497
-Â Custodian Banks:Â https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/custodian.asp
-Â Clearing Brokers:Â https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/clearingbroker.asp
Basically Prime Brokers and Custodian Banks make money by providing services to Hedge Funds (such as Citadel LLC), and Clearing Brokers making money by providing services to introducing brokers (such as Citadel Securities LLC). And who exactly are Shitadel’s Prime Brokers, Custodian Banks and Clearing Brokers?
The Prime Brokers for the Citadel LLC Hedge Fund entity, according to their ADV filing includes Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citibank and JP Morgan. https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/148826/PDF/148826.pdf
As for their Custodian Banks, the same ADV filing states that the provider of these services to Shitadel LLC’s various funds heavily includes JP Morgan.
Lastly, for Citadel Securities LLC, according to their FINRA broker check record - the Clearing Brokers are Goldman Sachs, ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and once again…JP Morgan. https://files.brokercheck.finra.org/firm/firm_116797.pdf
ADV
ADV
FINRA
Are brokerage services an important part of JP Morgan’s business? According to their 2020 Annual Report, they made about $3 billion in profits from providing these services to institutional customers, such as the two Shitadel entities. Additionally the 2020 Q4 earnings report shows that their Custodian Bank service holds over $3 trillion of Assets Under Custody…again raking in huge fees from the likes of Shitadel.
JP Morgan’s Financial Report
Now I should point out that pretty much every large Prime Broker, Custodian Bank and Clearing Broker are listed in Shitadel’s filing. So why pickon JP Morgan from that list? Well, because of this guy:
Hmm…
https://www.nbcuniversal.com/leadership/steve-burke
Steve Burke, Chairman of NBCUniversal - the parent company of CNBC - is also on the Board of Directors at both Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan. That Board of Directors actually only consists of ten members, so our boy Steve not only heads up NBCUniversal but is one of the key people at JP Morgan as well. The same JP Morgan that is pretty much in bed with Shitadel and must be making enormous amounts of money in providing various kinds of services to them.
https://www.jpmorganchase.com/about/our-leadership
Steve Burke has a duty, as a member of their Board of Directors, to help JP Morgan be as profitable as possible. And I guess he and his fellow members of the board are doing a good job, because they are the biggest bank in America today… Protecting the interests of and retaining key customers is, I am sure, one of the bullet points in his job description. BUT can someone balance these goals with the journalistic integrity that ought to be required of also leading one of the country’s largest media corporations?
I will not conjecture how much direct influence he has on CNBC’s editorial direction and choice of content. However he IS their boss…their BIG boss, and certainly has the incentive and opportunity to provide such direction. Steve Burke may see his role at JP Morgan, which would include serving the needs of key customers such as Shitadel, is a rational reason for aiding their cause.
Is it a surprise, therefore, that the organisation he leads spouts out stories that are so negative about GME? Or reported with glee that Melvin had closed their short position? Or has over-reported when GME’s share price has fallen sharply, sometimes reporting before the event has even occurred? And yet under-reported when the price has increased sharply? Or gives a voice to Jim Cramer?
This correspondent is not surprised at all.
Lies
FUD
Cramer
TL;DR: JP Morgan receives huge fees from Shitadel for providing various banking services, to both their Hedge Fund and Market Making entities. It is in JP Morgan’s interest to protect and advance their key client Shitadel’s cause. The Chairman of CNBC’s parent company is one of only ten members of JP Morgan’s Board of Directors. No conflict of interest at all, then..