GameStop Launches $56 Billion Unsolicited Bid for eBay

GameStop made an unsolicited bid of about $56 billion for eBay, which has a market value more than three times the size of the video game retailer. Ryan Cohen, the CEO of GameStop, told Business Insider in a phone interview on Friday that he will continue doing whatever it takes to buy eBay. "I'm going to continue doing whatever I need to do in order to buy the business," Cohen said.

Cohen appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box on Monday. He said the skeptical interviewers misunderstood his deal math and that he laid out a clear explanation of how he would finance a deal for eBay. "I don't know what is so complicated for them to figure it out," Cohen added.

TD Bank expressed confidence in placing roughly $20 billion in debt. Together the sums would cover the cash portion of the bid, Cohen said. Cohen proposed that existing shareholders take half of their investment off the table by receiving $28 billion, described as a 40% premium from when GameStop started buying the stock.

He told TBPN that remaining shareholders would roll the rest of their investment into the combined company of GameStop and eBay. Cohen said the stock component of the eBay deal would be earnings per share accretive for GameStop shareholders. He said he could increase eBay's profitability through cost-cutting.

"There's a ton of fat that can be cut," Cohen stated. 28 billion for 2025. 2 billion for 2015, the year eBay completed its PayPal spinoff. The company's EBITDA margin was 24% for 2025.

Cohen, who took over GameStop in 2021, built his fortune as the cofounder of Chewy. He alleged that eBay executives and directors had sold hundreds of millions of dollars of stock without buying shares themselves. "They're not owners in the business.

They're just milking it," he said. " A source familiar with the matter said eBay company insiders currently own over $150 million in shares. Cohen said he would not take a salary if he became CEO of eBay.

He does not earn a salary at GameStop. Cohen has a $35 billion compensation package at GameStop tied to hitting market cap and profit milestones, and he said he has not pulled a penny out of GameStop. In a brief follow-up call on Friday, Cohen expanded on his aspirations.

"I did not want to be the CEO of GameStop. "I'm passionate about eBay. I believe in eBay's business. I wasn't passionate about GameStop. " EBay has publicly said it is reviewing Cohen's bid.

Business Insider reported the details of Cohen's comments and the bid structure.