The cost of crappy comms

One of the most underrated business risks right now is not funding or operational, it’s leadership communication.

It takes many forms, from social media to meetings. You’ve heard me talk about thought leadership and personal branding, and this is part of that.

Today’s focus is on media, because of the TV interview I saw earlier this week (and it’s already a case study in how quickly confidence can collapse when a CEO shows up evasive or disconnected from the moment).

What the GameStop and eBay acquisition drama revealed about trust, credibility, and modern leadership

I’m talking about GameStop’s proposed $55 billion bid to acquire eBay — a deal that raised immediate questions about financing, execution risk, and a reported multi-billion-dollar funding gap.

Following any of my content, you already know that founders and leaders are not just operators behind the scenes — they’re increasingly the public trust layer of the business itself.

We’re not focusing on the proposed business acquisition itself, of course. For context, the financial details of the deal were available publicly before the interview I’ll share below. So investors weren’t reacting to brand-new math; they were reacting to the person representing the company.

Or more accurately, how he didn’t.

During the minute interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Cohen repeatedly responded to straightforward questions with variations of:
“I don’t understand your question.”

The issue at hand was a huge $16 billion funding gap tied to the proposed eBay acquisition structure. The anchors, including Andrew Ross Sorkin and Becky Quick, were pressing for clarity around capital structure and execution risk.

Instead of providing specifics, Cohen often redirected viewers to “look at the website.”

The market reacted immediately.

GameStop shares fell roughly 10% during and immediately following the interview window, wiping out significant market value in real time.

That’s massive.

Sure, we’ve seen CEOs occasionally stumble in interviews.

This is big because it’s such a visible reminder that a leader’s personal brand presence and communication itself is now part of a company's brand and actual valuation.

The leader is the brand interface

Some leaders I talk to still think speaking and media appearances are optional branding exercises. They’re not.

At a certain scale, the CEO becomes a live interface between the company and public trust.

Investors are evaluating competence.
Employees are evaluating confidence.
Customers are evaluating credibility.
Partners are evaluating stability.

All of that can happen in minutes.

Cohen’s responses didn’t necessarily make him appear unintelligent, but they made him appear evasive.

Today’s audiences are actually pretty forgiving when leaders say things like:

• “We’re still figuring that out.”

• “There’s risk involved.”

• “We don’t have every answer yet.”

• “Here’s what we know today.”

What destroys trust is the feeling that someone is intentionally dodging accountability while asking the market to believe in a massive vision.

That’s where communication stops being PR and becomes operational risk.

A platform mismatch and a bigger problem

Cohen reportedly gave a much stronger and more detailed interview afterward on TBPN, a more niche tech and startup-focused platform. (You may have heard of it lately, since OpenAI bought it).

There’s an interesting contrast there.

Did he purposely save clarity for a friendly audience while treating CNBC like an inconvenience?

You can dislike traditional financial media, but if you’re trying to lead a multibillion-dollar public company through a transformational acquisition, you still have to engage with the broader financial ecosystem.

That includes analysts, institutional investors, mainstream business media, and skeptical stakeholders.

You don’t get to opt out of that credibility while still expecting market confidence.

This extends far beyond public companies, of course. I see versions of this with founders, agency owners, nonprofit leaders, creators, and executives all the time.

People spend years building audience attention, but very little time building communication discipline under pressure.

There’s a huge difference between:

• posting online,

• performing online,

• and leading publicly.

The higher the stakes become, the more clarity matters.

Communication is now priced into the business

One of the biggest shifts of the last few years is that leadership communication has become radically more transparent and immediate.

A decade ago, the average person would not have been watching a CEO interview. But we all know that clips circulate instantly across LinkedIn, TikTok, X, YouTube Shorts, Reddit, Discord communities, newsletters, and podcasts.

Markets react in real time. Narratives form within minutes. That means communication volatility is increasingly becoming a measurable business risk.

Not just for public companies either.

For brands of every size, trust compounds.
But distrust compounds faster.

Once audiences begin questioning credibility, every future message becomes more expensive to deliver. That’s why media training, messaging clarity, and thoughtful communication strategy are no longer “nice to have” executive skills… they’re part of leadership itself.

A few takeaways for founders and leaders

1. Clarity beats cleverness

Trying to sound mysterious, evasive, or above the question rarely works outside of highly loyal fan communities. Most stakeholders simply want direct answers delivered calmly and clearly.

2. Transparency builds more trust than perfection

People don’t expect flawless certainty from leaders.
They expect honesty, composure, and accountability.

3. Every public appearance is a brand moment

An interview isn’t separate from the business.
For many audiences, it is the business.

4. The CEO is often the trust layer

Especially in founder-led brands, audiences evaluate the company through the behaviour of leadership. Communication style becomes part of the product experience.

5. You need to communicate across audiences

Niche communities may already believe in you.
Broader markets still need context, proof, and clarity.
That translation layer matters.

On the Prof G Markets episode “GameStop’s $55 Billion eBay Bid Is Already Falling Apart,” host Ed Elson and Semafor reporter Rohan Goswami dove into this interview, and this was my favourite quote:

That applies to far more than public markets.

In 2026, credibility is infrastructure.
Communication is one of the fastest ways to either build it or burn it.

Coming up next

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