Dimitri Semenikhin won't be donning a red headband anytime soon.
He may have helped engineer the most furious meme-stock rally of the year, but he really doesn't see himself as akin to the architect of the GameStop surge five years ago.
Semenikhin, 29, goes by Capyabara Stocks on social media. He rose to prominence this week as the trader whose convincing thesis about why Beyond Meat stock was undervalued kicked off a 1,300% run for the shares of the faux meat maker. In Capybara Stocks, the retail community hoped for the second coming of Roaring Kitty, even if Semenikhin resists the comparison.
So, who is the newest stock market influencer?
From yachts to meme stocks
Anyone who has read Semenikhin's thesis that sparked the Beyond Meat stock rally can probably tell, at the very least, that he's comfortable speaking the language of markets.
His case for why the stock is undervalued homed in on a fairly complex dynamic of a convertible note exchange completed by Beyond Meat recently, an event that he argued was misunderstood by investors.
Speaking with Semenikhin, it's clear that he finds the events of the past week surreal.
"I never expected the amount of attention and following and interest that this investment would drive," he said.
A native of Moscow, he moved to Monaco with his parents when he was young, before ultimately relocating to London for school. He earned a degree in mathematics from King's College London before entering a joint graduate program between the London Business School and the University of Cambridge.
However, he did not graduate, opting to drop out and work on a luxury travel startup called Yacht Harbour, which he launched in 2014. While he is currently CEO of Stroyteks Group, the real estate development firm founded by his family, Semenikhin still finds time to study the markets.
He credits his somewhat unconventional background with sparking his interest in investing, noting that it's helped him think about complex financial topics.
"A lot of my time was spent in startups, and after that, real estate," he said. "It forces you to look at investment deals from both sides, as an investor and as an operator."
Beyond Roaring Kitty
As Beyond Meat stock surged, many retail traders flocked to Semenikhin's social media channels for updates and advice. He's made several videos explaining his thesis and adjusting price targets.
Initially opting against showing his face, Semenikhin revealed himself in his second video about Beyond Meat posted on Wednesday.
He said the comparisons to Keith Gill are flattering, but he doesn't view himself as the next Roaring Kitty. He compared the rallies in GameStop and Beyond Meat to different paintings that look similar but are clearly done by different artists.
He thinks the Beyond Meat meme rally is different, noting that the spike happened very quickly, whereas it took months for the short-squeeze in GameStop to carry the stock to its peak.
Yet, a quick glance at his posts since the surge kicked off shows he's leaning into the energy his presence has generated among the retail crowd, with at least one allusion to the famous GameStop bull.
On October 22, as Beyond Meat shares started to lose steam, he shared a screenshot on X of an updated position with the caption: "As for me, I like the stock," a direct reference to Gill's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on February 18, 2021.
For now, the rally is stumbling, with the stock down sharply on Thursday and through midday Friday, but there are still plenty of bulls cheering on the stock across social media.
As for Semenikhin, he expressed some concern that the rally had turned into an "options casino," but he added he's holding onto his Beyond Meat stake for the long term.
