I can see the smoke 🚪💨💨 🔥🌲🔥🌲 #BBBYQ $BBBYQ

Teddy’s final hour of sleep is upon us, his eyes slowly opening to the few who share his hidden room where its majestic proportions remain obfuscated behind a maze of legalese and tinfoil. And when he wakes, even the legends who whisper his name today will stand in awe at the giant they’ve awake tomorrow.

“When I die bury me in a New York Knicks jersey, cause then I might just come back.”

Can we get a welfare check on Charlie here. Full on narcissistic collapse.

It’s much bigger than just eBay. IYKYK

As someone with an affinity for the power of the written word, this is a story I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams…

Today’s lesson: Be careful who you try to psyop, you never know if they’re gonna be Directors of National Intelligence one day.

🤔

Similarities between eBay and the former Bed Bath and Beyond Share BuyBacks: - BBBY spent upwards of $11.5 billion in share buybacks in the years prior to bankruptcy. - Between 2021 - 2025 eBay spent $11 - $12 billion on share buybacks. - The Board and the C Suite of both companies benefited immensely from these programs. - Buybacks reduce shares outstanding, inflating earnings per share (EPS) and other per share metrics. Many executive incentive plans (bonuses, long term incentives) tie payouts to these metrics. - Buybacks often create temporary upward pressure thus incressing the value of restricted stock units (RSU’s), performance shares and options help by executives and directors. It also improves conditions for selling vested shares. - Executives sold shortly after buyback announcements, capitalizing on any price jump. Sales can be 5x higher in this scenario. - Essentially both the former BBBY and eBay used the company piggy bank to enrich themselves via share buybacks rather then allocating those enormous sums for research and development programs necessary to grow the platform into the 21st century. Executive Turnover: - BBBY ousted long-time CEO Steven Tamares in 2019 amid activist pressure, bringing in outsider Mark Tritton. - eBay saw CEO David Wenig out in 2019k, replaced by Jaime Iannone in 2020 - Turnover appeared throughout the C Suite in both companies with BBBY replacing Tritton with Sue Gove then Holly Etlin. CFO Gustovo Arnal tragically lost to suicide amidst insider turmoil and more. - eBay saw multiple CFO changes (Steve Priest departing 2025, Peggy Alford in), product/ engineering reshuffles (e.g. Eddie Garcia out, combined roles under Jordan Sweetman and Mazen Rawashdeh in 2025) and board refreshment (new directors like Brian Sharples in 2026). Executive Failures: - Trittion pushed a private label heavy stategy that alienated customers who wanted national brands, hurt vendor relationships and failed to reverse sales decline. - eBay under Iannone has pursued marketplace enhancements, AI initiates, acquisitions, divestitures and vehicle/col lectibles pushes yet growth has stagnated sigificantly throughout his tenure. - eBay and Bed Bath and Beyond were both slow to adapt to eCommerce innovations. BBBY clung to Brick and Mortar as it’s direct competitors went online while eBay has failed to innovate while it’s competitors streamline the online shopping experience. Executive Compensation: -Tritton and the C Suite received high pay packages (Trisson alone received tens of millions of dollars over a few years, much of which was equity linked). Buybacks specifically aided his incentive packages during the time as he oversaw the downfall of a once great American brand. The Board approved these amid the buyback program. - CEO Jaime Iannone’s compensation is heavily equity based (often $20M to $28M annually with most in stock awards and performance incentives). Buybacks support EPS and stock price directly. Enhancing the value of his RSU’s, performance shares and holdings. Board Role: - The BBBY Board oversaw the aggressive buyback program that inflated Executive Compensation but left the company extremely vulnerable as a result. Directors saw their equity holdings gain significantly as a result of the very catastrophic program they approved. - eBay Directors receive fees plus equity meaning they benefit from buybacks in the same exact way the BBBY board did. Ryan Cohen - Both BBBY and eBay attracted activist pressure from Ryan Cohen - After selling his activist position in BBBY prior ro bankruptcy Ryan Cohen entered into a cooperation agreement with the Board, keeping three of his chosen members on and promising to hold the remainder accountable should they fail to act as fiduciary stewards of the company. An opaque Chapter 11 process suggests he has been quietly doing just that, leaving him the perfect tax deferrable shell to serve as the foundation of an ultra modern holding company that will become the template to free and fair trade in the fast arriving blockchain and AI era of commerce. Will the eBay board suffer a similar fate or will they learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. Time will tell.

eBay have spent over $17bn on share buybacks over the past 5 years Meanwhile, their active users declined ~18% and flat lined This is while the board members benefit from generous compensation packages Shareholders have benefited from financial engineering, not core growth.

Live Footage of former eBay CEO Jamie Iannone pursuing a new career in the wake of Ryan Cohen’s takeover. Notice the same attention to customer relations.