GameStop is quietly building a stake in eBay ahead of a potential offer that could reshape online retail, as CEO Ryan Cohen pursues an audacious plan to transform the video game retailer into a $100 billion business.
GameStop Quietly Accumulates eBay Shares Ahead of Potential Bid
GameStop is preparing to make an offer for eBay as early as this month, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would rank among the most ambitious corporate takeover attempts in recent retail history.
The video game retailer, led by, has been quietly building a stake in eBay’s shares in the lead-up to a potential offer, the people said. eBay shares surged more than 15% in after-hours trading on Friday following the Wall Street Journal‘s initial report on the planned bid.
A David and Goliath Deal: GameStop’s $12 Billion Pursuit of a $46 Billion Target
The scale of the proposed transaction is striking. GameStop carries a market value of approximately $12 billion, while eBay is several times its size at around $46 billion. Should the deal proceed, it would represent one of the most asymmetric acquisition attempts in the history of US retail.
GameStop could submit its offer for eBay as soon as later this month, the people familiar with the matter said. Ifproves unreceptive, Cohen could take the proposal directly to eBay’s shareholders, one of the people added. The precise financial terms of any potential offer remain unknown.
Ryan Cohen’s $100 Billion Ambition Drives the eBay Pursuit
Ryan Cohen has made little secret of his intent to pursue a transformative transaction. In a January interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said he was actively evaluating potential deal targets, with a particular focus on the consumer and retail sector, as part of a broader strategy to grow GameStop well beyond its origins in video games and collectibles.
Ryan Cohen’s compensation package, restructured at the start of this year, gives him considerable personal incentive to follow through. Cohen stands to receive stock worth as much as $35 billion if certain performance criteria are met, including a condition that GameStop’s market value reaches $100 billion, the Journal previously reported.
GameStop had approximately $9 billion in cash on its balance sheet at the end of March, up sharply from $4.8 billion a year earlier, giving the company considerable firepower for a major acquisition.
Michael Burry Among Investors Backing a GameStop Acquisition Strategy
Ryan Cohen has the backing of prominent investors who have publicly encouraged GameStop to deploy its growing cash reserves on bold acquisitions. Among them is whose bets against subprime mortgage bonds were chronicled in the Michael Lewis book. Burry has written in his Substack newsletter that GameStop should use its cash pile to make transformative acquisitions.
GameStop’s shares have risen around 30% so far this year, in part reflecting investor optimism around Cohen’s dealmaking plans.
Why eBay: Overlapping Customers, Collectibles and Strategic Logic
The potential rationale for a GameStop-eBay combination is grounded in overlapping customer bases and complementary product categories. eBay has spent recent years pivoting its marketplace towards collectibles and used goods, categories that closely align with GameStop’s existing customer base of video game enthusiasts and collectors.
over the past twelve months as its strategy to focus on core categories, including collectibles and fashion, has gained traction. In February, eBay announced a deal to acquire secondhand fashion marketplace Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion.
Both companies have faced pressure to adapt as consumer habits have shifted. GameStop has closed stores and leaned into collectible toys and trading cards as digital downloads have eroded physical video game sales. A combined entity, in Cohen’s vision, would create a scaled consumer marketplace capable of competing at a far higher level.
Ryan Cohen: From Chewy Founder to GameStop’s Unlikely Dealmaker
Cohen’s trajectory in corporate America has been unconventional. He co-founded online pet products retailer Chewy and built it into a major e-commerce business before acquiring a large stake in GameStop in late 2020, publicly criticising the company at the time for moving too slowly towards e-commerce.
He joined GameStop’s board in January 2021, when the business had a market value of just over $1 billion, rose to chairman later that year, and has since vowed to reinvent the struggling retailer.
He has cultivated a devoted following among retail investors, a community he is likely to mobilise in support of any deal with eBay.
eBay Shares Jump 15% on Takeover Report
Markets reacted swiftly to the news. According to Bloomberg news, in after-hours trading on Friday following the Wall Street Journal‘s report. GameStop’s stock has also been buoyed by the broader momentum surrounding Cohen’s publicly stated dealmaking ambitions.
Whether eBay’s board would welcome an approach from a company a fraction of its size remains to be seen. The coming weeks are likely to prove pivotal in determining whether Cohen’s most ambitious move yet advances from preparation to reality.