It is true that such an acquisition or loss of fortune would be noticed. But context of the discussion is "how much did he overpay the acquisition to put money

It is true that such an acquisition or loss of fortune would be noticed. But context of the discussion is "how much did he overpay the acquisition to put money in his pocket" So question is "Is it a difference he notices, if Oracle spent less on the acquisition?" - So if Oracle paid not 9.3, but 5B for PeopleSoft Larry got not 4, but a bit less of 2B for the deal for his account. At the same time the value of his Oracle stocks would be different (probably higher) thus the notable effect of the deal is small for Larry (but potentially bad for that sueing pension fund)