The Margin: The GOAT is an Ape: Tom Brady tweets up Hertz IPO

The future Hall of Famer and pitchman for rental car company Hertz took to Twitter Tuesday morning to get his more than 2 million followers excited about Hertz’s re-entry into the public stock markets after filing for bankruptcy last year.

“To the moooooon…” Brady tweeted, using the lingua franca of retail investors on social media who promote moves in meme stocks.

Brady also attached a video of his new Hertz ad depicting the company’s long history as a rental car pioneer before shifting to Brady at a modern day Hertz rental location pulling away in a white Tesla
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and then Brady’s voiceover touting the company’s entry into electric vehicles and saying “And now the big IPO! To the moon!”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made it clear in recent years that celebrities pushing certain stocks “must disclose the nature, scope, and amount of compensation received in exchange for the promotion” or face violations of anti-touting provisions in federal securities laws.

As the tweet makes clear, Brady is clearly a paid pitchman for Hertz and while the hashtag #LetsGo might be a battle cry to buy the IPO stock, it is also Hertz’s new corporate slogan.

Hertz did not respond to a request for comment on whether or not the terms of Brady’s agreement with the company have been divulged to the SEC.

Brady’s is no stranger to online financial memes.

In May, Brady added laser eyes to his Twitter profile photo, a social media signal that he was backing Bitcoin
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That trade did not work out for him initially but he has kept the laser eyes as Bitcoin rebounded to record levels into the late summer and early fall this year.

And Hertz might be hoping for a similar bounce for their stock.

Despite Brady’s backing, the company’s stock opened 9.5% below its offering price midday Tuesday.