$GME

The $GME proposed acquisition of $EBAY is even dumber than it sounds, which is why he refused to answer @andrewrsorkin's basic questions this am. To start, the ACTUAL proposal is not GME acquiring EBAY: GME is the seller, not the buyer. Ryan Cohen is asking eBay to acquire GME, fire eBay's CEO, and let Ryan run the business. Onto the dumbness of the proposal details: The idea is 50% cash / 50% stock for roughly $56 billion of consideration to eBay. Pundits note GME's ~$11.1B market cap and ~$9B of existing cash. BUT THAT DOUBLE-COUNTS. Of GME's ~$11.1B market cap, ~$9B IS THE CASH. Or 81% of the market cap. If I have a company worth $110 with $90 of net cash, it's not worth $180: the cash is worth $90, and the company ex-cash is worth $20 = $110. As shown below, if GME pays eBay