The EA Buyout: $55 Billion, One Giant Taxable Event

Every few years, a headline appears that makes investors cheer, employees squint, and tax advisors quietly refill their coffee.
This week, it was EA.

Electronic Arts will be acquired by a consortium led by the Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for $55 billion in cash — or $210 per share.
It’s the kind of number that looks better in a press release than on a 1099.

From Stock to Cash (and Then to the IRS)

If you’re an EA executive or longtime employee, your stock is about to become cash.
And cash, as it turns out, is much easier to tax than hope.

• RSUs? Ordinary income.

• Stock options? Either ordinary income or capital gains, depending on when you exercised.

• ESPP shares? A bit of both.

Each grant, vest, and exercise has its own basis, holding period, and tax treatment.
Think of it as a year-end bonus — only much larger, much more complicated, and arriving just in time for the IRS to notice.

The Real Game: Timing

In liquidity events like this, timing is everything — unless you’re late.
Once your shares convert to cash, most of the tax strategies people wish they’d used are off the table.

• A donor-advised fund can still soften the blow, but only if you fund it before the check clears.

• Trust structures (charitable remainder, Nevada, or Delaware) require time — not good intentions.

• Relocating from California might help, but the Franchise Tax Board has an excellent memory.

The difference between a smart liquidity plan and a painful one is rarely intelligence. It’s sequence.

After the Liquidity: What Usually Happens

Every major buyout produces two kinds of outcomes.

The first group treats their payout as freedom. They pay their taxes, diversify, and build the next phase of their lives with intention.

The second group treats it as victory. They buy homes, chase trades, and end up with the same worries — just in nicer zip codes.

If you’ve spent years building value inside EA, the hard part wasn’t getting the check. It’s deciding what that check now represents.

Optionality, Not Euphoria

A buyout is not an ending. It’s a forced reset — a chance to turn concentrated wealth into enduring capital.
Handled well, it’s liberating.
Handled poorly, it’s just expensive.

So take your time.
Get the math right.
And remember: the market may reward risk, but the tax code does not.