Ryan Cohen is playing chess and until you realize this nothing will make sense.
The $EBAY proposal was the spearhead. Half cash, half stock. Some might even say dilution.
To block the acquisition, $GME needs to be priced low - requiring more stock to finance the deal.
Enter… the buyback + Q1 earnings announcement.
This is the curveball.
To prevent the buybacks, price must be high. To prevent the $EBAY acquisition, price must be low.
This pits two sides of the trade against each other.
In the end, Ryan and shareholders are rewarded - regardless of the outcome.
Anyways, whats an exit strategy?