Overwhelming interest causes GameStop annual shareholder meeting server crash.

• The annual shareholder meeting of GameStop encountered server problems on Thursday due to high demand.
• The customer service representative from Computer Share, the company hosting the meeting, informed CNBC that their servers crashed due to the unexpected high traffic generated by the event.
• The surge in the new meme stock craze coincided with the debacle, which was brought about by Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty online.

The annual shareholder meeting encountered server issues on Thursday due to high demand for the live stream, a customer service representative for the hosting company informed CNBC.

The meeting scheduled to start at 11 a.m. ET on Computer Share encountered issues as many attendees received error messages that the page couldn't load, according to posts on social media site X and CNBC's attempts to access the event.

The annual meeting was scheduled to begin at 11:48 am ET but was immediately adjourned due to technical difficulties that prevented stockholders from accessing the meeting. GameStop stated that it would provide an update on the rescheduling of the event as soon as possible, according to the unaffiliated user's YouTube stream.

GameStop couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

A representative from Computer Share's customer service informed CNBC that they were experiencing a "large number" of problems with meeting access.

The meeting had received a high volume of traffic, causing Computer Share's servers to struggle to handle it. The tech team was working to resolve the issue, and interested parties were advised to log in every 5 to 10 minutes.

The controversy emerges during a recent surge in the popularity of meme stocks, which was sparked by the return of Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, to his social media accounts following a three-year absence. Gill gained recognition for his large investments in the stock, inciting a craze among individual traders.

GameStop experienced a 6% increase in trading on Thursday, with the stock reaching a high of 10.7% gain earlier in the session.

GameStop raised over $2 billion in a recent at-the-market equity sale, taking advantage of the renewed meme rally. The company plans to use the funds for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions and investments.

Roaring Kitty's active selling has been closely monitored by traders, who are concerned that it could lower the stock's price.

Suddenly, in late afternoon trading Wednesday, GameStop shares experienced a sudden sell-off just as the trading volume for the call options owned by Roaring Kitty spiked. Call options give the buyer the right to buy a stock at a specified price within a specific period. Their value increases if the stock rises above the so-called strike price.

On Wednesday, GameStop traded 93,266 contracts with a $20 strike price and expiration on June 21, which is more than nine times its 30-day average volume of 10,233 contracts.

During the session, the contracts' price dropped more than 40%, while the stock plummeted 16.5%.

According to a screenshot shared Monday evening, Roaring Kitty owned 120,000 contracts of those calls.

Options traders speculated that Roaring Kitty may have been responsible for the large volume of trades, given his significant ownership of those contracts.

The total number of contracts for an asset that have not been settled has decreased to 111,818 as of Thursday morning, below Roaring Kitty's original prediction of 120,000.

More than 42,000 such contracts have changed hands as of midday Thursday.