I wanted to show a few examples with pictures to illustrate how inexpensive it can be to buy 100 votes

I am going to show pictures of each ticker with me going long 100 shares, short a call, and long a put. The call and put will be for the same strike and the same expiration. At the very end will be a summary table of upfront costs, losses/gains, and then some additional comments.

Please note:

  • This assumes no early exercise, which is a risk to this.
  • This assumes what is displayed on the ticket can be filled. Technically, it will not fill as optimally, but the gist of this is the key.
  • This is all based on data from thinkorswim pulled around 11:30am on 3/30/2023.

Examples

TLDR Summary

  • GME: for $2.4k, you can buy 100 votes and you’ll lose is $88
  • Robinhood: for $1.1k, you can buy 100 votes and you’ll gain $13
  • AMC: for $0.7k, you can buy 100 votes and you’ll lose $138
  • Apple: for $16.8k, you can buy 100 votes and you’ll gain $194
  • Microsoft: for $27.4k, you can buy 100 votes and you’ll gain $141

For 5 different tickers, this shows how you can shed some or all of your economic risk and have full voting rights. This is empty voting!

  • MozooZ@lemmy.whynotdrs.orgEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    That’s not what we’re talking about here. Your insults speak volumes about either your intentions or your supposed superior knowledge. Surely you’re better than that, no?

    Primary research on the topic speaks to the issue: https://ccl.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/PM-6-Bus-Law-Hu-Black.pdf

    This decoupling – which we call “the new vote buying” – is often hidden from public view and is largely untouched by current regulation. Hedge funds have been especially creative in decoupling voting rights from economic ownership. Sometimes they hold more votes than economic ownership: a pattern we call “empty voting.” Sometimes they hold more economic ownership than votes, though often with de facto ability to acquire the votes if needed – a situation we call “hidden ownership” because the economic ownership is often not disclosed. Insiders also often use empty voting techniques.

    Please see https://ibb.co/mzyfJbB to understand some more of the nuance here.