Don't they teach this stuff anymore? I had to learn this in college, many years ago.
Of course, it was a little less likely for eccentric billionaires to just "shop" in the market like this for ultra-large corporations. Still. We at least knew how the processes worked.
I majored in Computer Science and Physics. Which of these disciplines would mergers and acquisitions have been in? Should my algorithms class taught us about diluted stock and RSUs vs ISOs? Does my quantum mechanics professor have a unit on hostile takeovers?
In my decade on HN I've seen a lot about funding, IPOs, and acquisitions of private companies, but very little about hostile takeover of public companies.
Where are you expecting people to have developed an incidental background knowledge on deploying / overcoming poison pills?
Maybe you can share your knowledge, so those of us who are not dealing with mergers/acquisitions/takeovers can learn something?