When Piggly Wiggly Tried to Stick It to Wall Street

The recent volatility in the price of GameStop and other stocks has been characterized—rightly or wrongly—as an unprecedented populist revolt by small-time traders against big hedge funds. The success of Piggly Wiggly caught the eye of Wall Street, and in February 1922 the New York Stock Exchange listed its stock for trading. It didn’t deter him that, aside from his existing holdings of Piggly Wiggly stock, he had never before traded a single share of any stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The New York Daily News warned Wall Street to “put locks on safes” because “Clarence is here with the open and avowed purpose of teaching New York the financial game.” By March 1923, Saunders controlled more than 198,000 shares, or 99 percent of all Piggly Wiggly stock. Since Saunders owned nearly all Piggly Wiggly stock, the short sellers would have to buy from him and he could name his price.