I'm not sure I understand the original claim, that shorts lost 1.5 billion. How is the number calculated, and is it accurate?
One comment on reddit said: "I’m going to guess you take the confirmed short share % and multiply by the price change."
one question i've not looked into too deeply is how % shares short is even calculated. i've heard many suggestions that the short interest is a false or manipulated number but i've never confirmed this for myself.