Skip to content

Investing:A Moment of Reckoning on Financial Literacy

Subscriber Only

The Big Take

Wall Street Influencers Are Making $500,000, Topping Even Bankers

Finance firms have long struggled to reach young and new customers — until now.

Austin Hankwitz shares videos on social media platforms to a new generation of investors. — Austin Hankwitz shares videos on social media platforms to a new generation of investors.
Photographer: Brett Carlsen/Bloomberg

By

Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou

September 17, 2021, 4:01 AM UTC

At first no one could explain why business was picking up at Betterment, a robo adviser aimed at newbie investors. There were about 10,000 signups in one day.

Then came the answer: A 25-year-old TikToker from Tennessee was posting videos describing how to retire a millionaire by using the platform.