Robin Hood, a US free stock trading platform
A young man in his twenties in the United States ended his life by mistaken for losing $ 730,000 (about 813 million won) in stock. In this regard, the parents of the young man filed a lawsuit against the online stock trading application’Robin Hood’ for responsibility.
According to Bloomberg News on the 8th (local time), Alex Kern’s parents, who died, said, “The tragedy was caused by aggressive tactics and neglect of management duties to attract Robin Hood’s young customers. Filed a lawsuit.
According to them, Kern began trading options through Robin Hood last year, before graduating from high school. Then, on June 11 of last year, the Robin Hood app confirmed that the balance was minus 730,000 dollars. It was due to the time difference that occurred in the process of converting between futures and spot, and it was the balance that would be erased when the put option was exercised.
He sent three emails to Robin Hood’s customer service center but didn’t get a response and eventually made an extreme choice. In a letter to his parents before his death, Kerns wrote, “How can a 20-year-old without income invest in leverage of $1 million?”
The surviving family’s lawyer told CBS News, “I had nothing to owe, but it looked like I owed 730,000 dollars,” said CBS News. In fact, Kence wasn’t in debt, and the day after his death, Robin Hood sent an automatic e-mail saying, “The margin call was met and the transaction restrictions were lifted.”
The survivors argue that the situation would have changed if Robin Hood had only provided an immediate telephone counseling service. His mother, Dorothy Kerns, complained that “how painful it is, I can’t say anything.”
Robin Hood has secured young customers in their twenties by simplifying the stock trading process and eliminating fees. The number of app downloads recently reached 1 million per day. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), as of the end of last year, there were 20 million Robin Hood users.
Reporter Jang Joo-young [email protected]