GameStop Submits $56 Billion Proposal to Buy eBay

Richard Janvrin
By: Richard Janvrin
Industry
GameStop Submits $56 Billion Proposal to Buy eBay

Photo by Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Key Takeaways

  • GameStop has submitted a proposal to buy eBay for $125 per share
  • In all, the deal would be for $56 billion, which would be paid for in "half cash, half stock," per CEO Ryan Cohen
  • GameStop currently holds a 5% stake in eBay

Earlier this week, GameStop made it official: It was submitting an offer to buy eBay. This news came after it was revealed that GameStop was preparing to make an offer, but it also dates back to late January, when GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen teased a "very big" deal that could transform the company. 

GameStop Press Release

According to a press release from GameStop, the company submitted a proposal to acquire 100% of eBay for $125 per share, in both cash and stock. Per the release, it's a 46% premium to "eBay's unaffected closing price on February 4, 2026." This date is important because that's when GameStop began buying stock in the company. 

It also points out that GameStop has built a 5% economic stake in eBay via "derivatives and beneficial ownership of common stock." 

In all, at $125 per share, the purchase price would be $56 billion. Cohen has aspirations to rival Amazon. 

“EBay should be worth—and will be worth—a lot more money,” Cohen said in an interview, per The Wall Street Journal. “I’m thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Questions Surrounding Financing the Deal

Speaking with CNBC, Cohen was asked about how GameStop planned to pull off the purchase. The host, Andrew Ross Sorkin, pointed out that GameStop's market cap was about $11 billion, they had $9 billion in cash, and they also had a letter from TD, which appeared ready to finance $20 billion. He then pointed out that GameStop was left about $16 billion short. Cohen responded with, "Yeah, we'll see what happens." 
Following that response, Sorkin was slightly laughing, but asked where the rest of the money would come from. Cohen reiterated, "It's half cash, half stock." 
He went back and forth with the hosts a bit more, but he mentioned they can issue more stock to get the deal done. 

Cohen Criticizes eBay's Sales and Marketing Budget

Also in the interview, he pointed out eBay's marketing budget, which was also mentioned in the press release. "eBay spent $2.4 billion on Sales & Marketing in fiscal 2025 while only adding one million net active buyers (134M to 135M - a net increase of less than 0.75%)." Cohen said, "There's a lot of fat to cut." 
In the event of a purchase, Cohen would serve as Chief Executive Officer for the combined company. 

Richard Janvrin is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. He started writing as a teenager before breaking into sports coverage professionally in 2015. From there, he entered the iGaming space in 2018 and has covered numerous aspects, including news, reviews, bonuses/promotions, sweepstakes casinos, legal, and more.

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