J. Ricks

Physicist Michio Kaku suggests dark matter isn’t matter at all. It is gravity leaking from a parallel dimension.

Allow me to translate this letter from eBay for those who don’t speak legalese: Ryan, We got your unsolicited offer to buy eBay for $125/share (half cash, half stock) supported by your 5% economic interest in eBay. Our board, backed by the usual crew of bankers and lawyers who get paid either way, “thoroughly reviewed” it. We’re rejecting it. Not because the math doesn’t work. Not because the highly confident letter from TD Securities for up to $20B on top of your $9B+ cash pile is fake. None of that. We’re rejecting it because your entire approach to running a company is an existential threat to how we like to operate here. Here are the reasons we feel this way, and the things we considered before paying consultants to write this: 1) We’d rather keep milking eBay as a “standalone” cash cow than let you turn it into something bigger and better. 2) Sure, you’ve got real financing lined up and you “know people” with deep pockets, but we’re going to call it “uncertain” anyway so we don’t have to engage. 3) Your plan would actually force real long-term growth and profitability changes we’d rather not be held accountable for. 4) The debt we pretended you can’t even obtain, the operational integration and focus on seller satisfaction, and most importantly, putting someone like you in charge of the combined entity all sound like a nightmare for our current leadership structure because all of us would have zero job security. 5) The valuation math only looks bad if you ignore the 46% premium you’re offering our shareholders and the upside from fixing eBay the way you fixed GameStop, which we are choosing to do and hoping nobody notices. 6) And I hope we buried the lede far enough here: Your governance and executive incentives are completely incompatible with ours. You and your board take zero cash, no salary, no bonuses, no golden parachutes. You buy shares with your own money and only get paid if shareholders win. We, on the other hand, like our nice, reliable annual payouts regardless of whether the stock is flat or the company is just coasting. We’re not about to hand over our golden goose to a guy who eats only what he kills. Look, eBay is “strong” and “resilient” in the way every entrenched public company says it is while handing out eight-figure checks and perks to the C-suite. We’ve done the usual incremental stuff: tweaked the marketplace a bit, returned some capital, and we’d like to keep doing that without any cowboy from GameStop coming in and demanding actual skin-in-the-game accountability. Can you just leave us alone? Our team remains focused on protecting the current regime and delivering “value”… mostly to ourselves and our consultants. Thanks, but no thanks, Paul S. Pressler
Chairman of the Board, eBay
(And proud beneficiary of the status quo)

Virginia Cavalier lacrosse fans… I am hearing a rumor out of Charlottesville that is going to shock you. I did not see this coming at all Please credit Nest when the bomb drops

after RC's interview with the WSJ it really looks like all the pieces are starting to fit together for $GME. quoted to this post is my observation about GameStop filing a templated bond indenture back in October with the modified S-3 from the warrants. so now we have: • a warrant agreement that outlines a "Share Exchange Event" if there were to be a merger or acquisition, a new class of shares, etc. (section 4); • a ready-to-go bond indenture; • the GameStop board announcing a compensation package for RC; • big dog himself telling the WSJ that he is looking to make a large acquisition. who needs forward guidance when the roadmap is this clear! the bond indenture is a finalized, execution-ready document. there is just no way that they filed this as a "just in case" and it became painfully obvious after the interview article. you don't file detailed indenture documents unless bond issuance is part of a concrete capital plan. that's when it clicked. when the compensation package was revealed it whimsically (read: intentionally) did not have a set shareholder vote date set and just said "sometime in March or April". none of it is coincidence I believe all of it is planned around the Company's annual earnings release and they are going to issue bonds to help fund their big acquisition(s). the only question is in what order? I thought to myself, for someone who never "telegraphs their strategy", why is RC saying that they are ready to utilize the investment policy and make an acquisition? what purpose does it serve? then it hit me. are they doing the bond roadshow right now? here's the thing. almost half of GME's cash is from the convertible notes and if they just went and marketed a bond raise it could face significant skepticism and demand weak pricing, maybe even get a lacklustre credit rating. investors might push for a higher yield premium for their risk. but if big dog is talking to the main M&A writer for the Wall Street Journal, well, that changes everything. bond markets like certainty and RC just gave out his plan for all of them to hear. I think he is providing a use of proceeds narrative and creating the business rationale that bond investors like to hear. here I thought that the vote on the compensation package was going to be first but it may be the last piece. in my opinion this unfolds in one of two ways: one: • first will come the annual earnings to give an up-to-date financial baseline before major strategic moves. this will show credibility with institutional investors before asking them to evaluate a major acquisition; • make an acquisition announcement in hopes of boosting the stock price and creating momentum heading into the shareholder vote on the pay package; • issue the bonds to offset the cost, fill a funding gap or if the acquisition is announced with some lead time, get the financing in order before closing. • shareholders can evaluate big dog's strategy and vision ahead of the vote to approve the pay package. I think the pay package and its astronomical targets might create stock price volatility that could complicate bond pricing so I think no matter what, it happens last. (this places all other events before or inside of "March or April"). two: • earnings first for up-to-date financials; • everything else from the first point stays the same but the acquisition and bond issuance announcements are bundled together to signal confidence into the stock price (against the price of an acquisition); • pay pack vote last to show the vision and get approval. remember, the bond indenture was filed back in October 2025 so every step has been planned out for a long time. they have probably engaged with the Investment banks for months already. same goes for anchor investor(s) (maybe this is how Mr. Almadeed fits into the picture in all this). three: • things are happening really quickly, the bonds are about to be marketed or are right now and this is why big dog gave the interview to WSJ. • earnings will come afterwards because "things are moving fast" for whatever reason. the biggest signal of this option happening will be an earnings pre-release like there was in May 2024 before the first ATM offering. I believe that the second option is the most likely. RC communicating the plan to the news was a bit of a curve ball on the timeline, but maybe it is to negotiate attractive bond pricing and have investors lined up well ahead of time, just like they did with the templated indenture. it makes the most sense to announce the acquisition and financing together as a complete and strategic plan because it will make everyone happy. the bond investors hear about specific use of proceeds and a clear business rationale; equity investors will be happy because it avoids the uncertainty of announcing an acquisition without explaining how it will be paid for. that will absolutely insulate downward pressure on the stock if it is known the current cash pile won't be depleted. you tell the market one comprehensive story. bond buyers can see the complete transaction, (maybe even giving GME leverage to negotiate better pricing?), create some excitement and momentum from a major announcement that could drive stock price acceleration ahead of the pay pack vote. the really exciting thing about the bond indenture is it opens the flood gates for how big the GameStop Board could be thinking. rocket. wee. genesis. isn't it obvious?