I had a funny convo last week with the global practice head for board searches at a top exec search firm. They do ~400 public co board searches a year.
I told him how at GameStop, none of the board members or CEO are paid cash or equity.
He said, "So you grant options?"
I said, "No, the stock board members and the CEO get come from purchasing stock just like any other shareholder."
He said, "So you grant restricted stock units?"
I said, "No, we don't grant any equity and don't pay any cash. We believe this aligns our interest with shareholders."
He said, "What?!"
Out of the thousands of public co board searches his firm had done, they had never done one with no cash or equity comp - it blew his mind.
To my knowledge, only Berkshire Hathaway and GameStop have no comp for the board. If there are others, let me know.
This comp structure should be more common as it really does foster alignment with shareholders.
$GME
@foxenflask I wonder if his profile pic update means RC ventures is also loading up on eBay shares along side GameStop and they’re just under or right at the reporting limit
Trump sued his own government to pay himself $10 billion in taxpayer funds.
He even said: "It's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself."
It's not strange. It's corrupt.
Congratulations to Mayor Mamdani. He inherited a huge budget deficit, brought it down to zero, and still invested in childcare, housing and city infrastructure.
When municipal governments stand with working families, not billionaires, there is nothing they cannot accomplish.
If $GME is going to acquire $EBAY, this is how I expect it to go:
Unlike traditional activist campaigns that unfold over 18-24 months, this timeline could compress into roughly 12 months from first trade to full control, leveraging GME's enormous cash position to build a stake so large so fast that the board has no viable defense.
Phase 1 (Weeks 1-8): Dual stealth accumulation to ~9.8% combined ($4.3B) via dark pools before any public filing (dual as in, GameStop and Ryan Cohen separately and together). Perhaps other partners and affiliates accumulate during this phase as well (Nat?). I believe this phase is over.
Phase 2 (Weeks 8-10): Dual 13D filings plus a public white paper; expected EBAY pop of 15-30% and GME pop of 10-20%
Phase 3 (Weeks 11-20): Proxy fight for 3-5 board seats at EBAYs next annual meeting while building to 15-20% combined stake
Phase 4 (Months 5-12): Board control, install Ryan Cohen as Chair, execute cost cuts, redirect FCF to buybacks, etc
The stealth phase is compressed to 8 weeks because GME's cash allows aggressive accumulation at 15-20% of daily volume across multiple prime brokers and dark pools. Both GME and Ryan Cohen accumulate independently to 4.9% each, staying below the 5% 13D trigger. HSR filings happen on Day 1 but are confidential. By Week 8, the combined position is ~9.8% ($4.3B deployed) and nobody knows. The dual 13D filings at Week 8-10 hit the market like a bomb: the largest shareholder bloc in eBay, backed by $9B+ in additional firepower, with a public white paper detailing the value creation plan. From there, continued accumulation during the proxy fight period pushes the combined stake to 15-20%, making the proxy contest a mathematical certainty. Board control follows, and the transformation begins.
Imagine if Biden had just lost a war after he promised no wars and then was living it up at a UFC event while negotiations failed. I’m sick of the double standards.
Told my wife to have dinner ready at 6 or I will obliterate her entire civilization.
She now charges me a fee to use the bathroom, that used to be free, and I didn't get dinner. WTF