A few thoughts on
$GME for
$EBAY
Andrew Ross Sorkin was an M&A reporter at the NYT and before that the NY Post. He's been a strategic conduit for bankers/advisors for ~25 years. Let's just say...this morning's interview was not an accident.
This also isn't the first rodeo between Ryan and Andrew. Anyone remember "Staplegate"? Go find the crypto/trading cards debate clips too. The relationship used to be cordial, then Ryan went full activist and started throwing out "Alice in Wonderland" framings for broken companies. Andrew doesn't hand out his flowers to that crowd. He's a star-f***er, full stop.
On the deal itself, two things:
1/ Go read Ryan's incentive comp agreement and the market cap step function. Pretty clear what the playbook is. My guess:
$GME may also have farm-team stakes in names like
$W (Wayfair) and a few others via swap (perhaps boxed positions). Some of the recent tape in those names has been... interesting.
2/ The
$EBAY proxy window closed a couple months ago with a June AGM. That's a missed window to put real board pressure on and run a proper process. Now we wait. Will
$EBAY do a market check?
Let's see if this turns into a gangbang...Icahn, Elliott, Third Point have all been involved before.
ahhhhh I'm Ryan Cohen and I'm on CNBC and the journalists are asking me questions while I'm on CNBC ahhhhhh