Activist Elliott Management may not be the kind of pal that PayPal was looking for, but you can’t always pick your friends.
There is intrigue aplenty in the news of Elliott’s stake, reported late Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal. Last year, PayPal explored a deal to acquire Pinterest, but called off the pursuit. Reports on the talks sparked a negative market reaction in PayPal shares. Pinterest this year hired a former top PayPal executive as its chief executive. And Elliott is a major Pinterest investor.