Shitposting is serious business. Just ask Lit, the pseudonymous creator behind the financial meme account Litquidity. He's amassed 700,000 Instagram followers and 270,000 Twitter followers for his snarky commentary on the cultural mores of budding American Psychos and Bored Ape collectors, skewering Goldman Sachs interns for their penchant for overpriced Hamptons rentals, crypto bros for going all in on not-so-stable coins, and Jeff Bezos for just...being. But Lit's ambitions are far grander. "[My] vision is building out a Barstool Sports, but focused on finance," he says, speaking to Fast Company over Zoom, his face obscured by his trademark avatar: a dollar bill adorned with a frazzled-looking George Washington.
That Lit's inspiration is Barstool, the infamously abrasive but undeniably successful digital media company, is telling. The meme maker has enjoyed a bull run over the past couple of years, as he's gone from making fun of bankers' outfits to cultivating a budding empire. In addition to his social accounts, he hosts a weekly podcast (Big Swinging Decks) that unpacks rumors and trends in the financial industry and writes a daily newsletter (Exec Sum) that breaks down news from Wall Street and Silicon Valley. He has a "meme services" arm (aka memes-as-a-service, or MaaS) and an e-commerce site selling the likes of "lever tf up" baseball caps and Lehman Brothers banker bags.
This story is from the October 2022 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 2022 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
CREATOR ECONOMY
Carpe DM New platforms monetize intimate\" bonds between creators and their fans.
MEDIA
Inside Cesar's Palace NBCUniversal News chairman Cesar Conde's empire was rocked by a recent revolt.
CULTURE WARS
IN 2013, RODZ AND GORE FOUND themselves chatting in a tent in the wilds of northern Utah, attendees at a conference at which guests reportedly paid up to $12,000 to do yoga, fish, and kibitz with fellow entrepreneurs, would-be investors, and the author and psychotherapist Esther Perel.
CULTURE WARS
Tipping Point Stephen Miller's nonprofit is suing a startup over racial discrimination. The diversity of American business is at stake.
WORK LIFE
Nancy Reyes, CEO of the Americas at BBDO, answers our career questionnaire.
POLITICS
The Color of Money ActBlue has become the default fundraising machine for the Democratic Party. Here's why that's dangerous.
PODCASTING
The \"Great Men\" Theory of Podcasting Listen up, the 21stcentury frontiersmen are talking—a lot.
WORLD CHANGING IDEAS
FROM THE TINY SOUTH PACIFIC ISLAND OF NIUE то THE BUSTLING STREETS OF PARIS, FROM GUINEA TO SAN FRANCISCO, PEOPLE ARE DEVISING SOLUTIONS TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST CHALLENGES.
THE PERPLEXITY EFFECT
WHEN YOU GOOGLE THE TERM \"PERPLEXITY AI,\" YOU GET A FAMILIAR-LOOKING RESPONSE: A LINK TO THE COMPANY'S WEBSITE FOLLOWED BY FOUR OTHER RELATED POPULAR QUERIES, A HANDFUL OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES, RELATED SEARCHES, AND AN ENDLESS SCROLL OF LINKS THAT IF PRINTED OUT MIGHT EXTEND FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO AUSTIN.
Where the Design Jobs Are
The shifting winds of the U.S. economy in the past year have left designers disoriented.
