[newacct583]

> If the people who hold most of the stock aren't willing to sell for less than a certain amount, then that's what the shorts will have to pay

But that presupposes not that WSB was big enough to trigger a short squeeze (something that everyone accepts), but that they are big enough to hold the bulk of the capitalization of (at this moment) a $18B company. Needless to say they aren't remotely that big. This isn't happening.

[elihu]

Sure, there's more going on than just some WSB people holding stock. Probably a lot of other people have gotten onto the bandwagon, and maybe even some hedge funds or bored billionaires. And some of the high prices lately may have more to do with short sellers covering their positions than retail investors buying at those prices.

At the same time, it's worth noting that a lot of the WSB people got in early, and were able to buy a lot more shares at a lower price. That WSB could scrape together 1.8 billion when the stock was worth one tenth what it is now is still a bit far-fetched, but closer to the realm of possibility than 18 billion.