Baseball cards, video games, an old iPhone and a painting of a dog are among the items listed for sale on the eBay profile of Ryan Cohen, CEO of GameStop. Earlier this week, Cohen made an unsolicited offer of $56 billion to acquire eBay. Now he appears to be selling collectibles on the platform to fund his takeover. The way it works draws attention. It also leaves Wall Street and other GameStop investors struggling to understand exactly what it's doing.
Cohen did not specifically explain how he would finance the proposed deal. During an interview with CNBC after announcing the bid, he repeatedly sidestepped questions about the funding, saying such information is “on our website” while criticizing the network for calling it “the demise of GameStop.” This interview was later described as confusing, confusing and controversial.
The confusion stems mainly from the scale of the proposal. GameStop has a market capitalization of about $11 billion, about $9 billion in cash, and a $20 billion financing letter from TD Bank. eBay is currently valued at approximately $47 billion. Cohen said he wants to merge eBay and GameStop and install himself as CEO. He says the combined company could cut $2 billion in annual costs.
At the same time, Cohen has succeeded in controlling the conversation. “The more attention you get, the more eyes—and people will realize, 'Hey, maybe I should be investing in this guy's business,'” Steve Soltis, a lecturer at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, told the Observer. “He is a very knowledgeable man.”
That flexibility fits Cohen's record. He rose to prominence during the 2020 meme-stock boom after investing in GameStop, joining its board in 2021 and becoming CEO in 2023. He previously founded Chewy and sold it to PetSmart for $3.35 billion in 2017, and has taken on activist positions at companies such as Nordstrom and Bed Bath & Beyo.
Soltis, who has worked in senior communications at companies such as Coca-Cola and UPS, sees the current era as intentional. “You're telling me he's going to go into CNBC and he doesn't really understand the technicalities of the deal? I personally don't buy it,” he said. “He understands meme stocks better than anyone, and how to build a base of support from potential opponents.”
Cohen relies on that playbook. Shortly after the interview, he posted that he would be “selling things on eBay to pay eBay,” directing his followers to X on his eBay account. eBay briefly suspended his account yesterday (March 7). But it's active again today with 35 listings. A pair of GameStop store signs have already received a bid of $21,100.
“You know this will go viral on social media,” said Soltis. “I think he's trying to be weird and make himself more of an iconoclast than he actually is.”
Investors are not so happy. Shares of GameStop are down 4 percent this week. Michael Burry, one of the company's most sought-after shareholders, said he has resigned from his position and warned that it could take years for the deal to be finalized. “Never confuse credit with innovation,” Burry wrote in a Substack post on May 4.
Cohen's eBay buyers, at least, seem satisfied. His account, created in 2019, has a 100 percent positive response rate. Purchases come with free shipping and a copy of his proposal letter to eBay.
