The size of Elliott’s stake and its intentions couldn’t be learned. PayPal has roughly $8b of cash and short-term investments and not much more debt; activists are frequently drawn to companies they say could allocate capital more aggressively. Earlier this month, news hit that Elliott recently bought 9% of Pinterest. That's the same company that PayPal was in talks to buy in the fall, until PayPal shareholders revolted, and the company abandoned its pursuit.