Ryan Gould

"Stripe... is preliminarily interested in parts or even all of PayPal... people are looking at this as a potential take out candidate, also as a breakup candidate." PayPal is trading at a "fraction of what it was," making it a deep value target. The emergence of a suitor like Stripe validates the asset's underlying value and suggests a potential premium will be offered to shareholders, or that a value-unlocking breakup is on the table. LONG PYPL as an M&A arbitrage and value play. Preliminary talks may not lead to a formal offer; regulatory/antitrust bodies could block a merger of this size; Stripe (a private company) may face financing difficulties.

Blackstone is investing another $100M in Anthropic (total stake $1B) via its retail-focused wealth products. Blackstone is successfully democratizing access to private AI unicorns for "wealthy mom and pop" investors, creating a new fee-generating growth engine distinct from traditional buyouts. LONG. Valuation mark-downs in private AI assets.