eBay's stock jumps 5% to $109.33, below GameStop's $125/share acquisition offer, in a sign investors see hurdles to completing a deal; GameStop stock drops 10%

Meme Stock GameStop Pitches $56 Billion eBay Takeover — Video Player is loading. — Unmute — Current Time 0:00 Loaded: 36.28% Playback Rate

Bloomberg 2026-05-04

Context & Ripple Effects

GameStop moved from quietly building an eBay stake to an unsolicited roughly $56 billion cash-and-stock proposal, despite being far smaller by market capitalization in the related coverage. The market response is an early verdict on the proposal’s perceived executability rather than simply its stated premium.

Later coverage records eBay’s rejection of the bid and GameStop’s increased ownership stake, placing this trading day at the start of a continuing pressure campaign rather than a conventional agreed transaction.

First-order effects

eBay’s rise to $109.33 still leaves its shares well below the $125 offer, signaling that investors are discounting the likelihood or terms of completion.
GameStop’s roughly 10% decline raises the market cost of pursuing the transaction and reflects shareholder skepticism toward the proposed acquisition.

Second-order effects

The gap between eBay’s trading price and the offer gives eBay’s board evidence that the market sees material execution risk, strengthening its position in responding to the unsolicited approach.
Because the proposal includes cash and stock, GameStop’s share-price decline puts greater focus on how the buyer could support its consideration and financing case.

Third-order effects

If a smaller public company continues pressing a much larger target without a clear path to close, boards and investors may treat headline offer premiums as less informative than funding, governance, and bidder-value risk.
The episode points to a more skeptical market standard for activist-style takeover campaigns: building a stake can sustain pressure, but it does not by itself establish deal credibility.

The trend: This is one data point in the broader trend of unsolicited bidders using equity stakes to pressure larger targets while markets rapidly test whether the bid is financially and structurally credible.

Discussion

@business @business on x
GameStop will offer $125 in cash and stock per eBay share in a takeover proposal valued at about $56 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an interview with GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@theseouldan @theseouldan on bluesky
Hurdle, presumably, being that the GameStop CEO is a pump and dump scammer [embedded post]
Steve Tadelis Steve Tadelis on linkedin
When I was at eBay nearly 15 years ago, the company had extraordinary assets: scale, data, and a leading marketplace, but it lacked a clear playbook for turning those into adjacent growth. …
@ryancohen Ryan Cohen on x
Proposal to acquire eBay. https://investor.gamestop.com/ ebay
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
This @SquawkCNBC interview with Ryan Cohen is wild. @andrewrsorkin is asking him a 3rd grade math question and he keep pretending they're asking him an advanced calculus equation.
@wallstrollup @wallstrollup on x
Andrew Ross Sorkin challenged GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen on how $GME has enough financing to acquire $EBAY [video]
@squawkcnbc @squawkcnbc on x
“We are offering half cash, half stock, and we have the ability to issue stock in order to get the deal done,” says $GME CEO @ryancohen on offering a bid for @eBay. Watch the full interview: https://www.cnbc.com/... [video]
@joshuahlipton Josh Lipton on x
This is so awesomely awkward and uncomfortable, it actually transcends business news and becomes performance art
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
the number of headlines taking him seriously has been surprising his proposed ebay takeover bid is 6x the marketcap of gamestop & he has offered zero details on financing or whether LBO backers are even interested its's like if i announced “im buying ebay” in a tweet
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
The plan? Offer half cash and half stock on live television and say nothing else.
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
this feels very shaky. activist playbook to make a lot of noise through the press on friday after market close then your actual (less than 10 percent) stake filing is disclosed on a monday where i agree with cohen is that ebay has been terribly managed for like, more than a [imag…
@buttfarm69 @buttfarm69 on x
@ryancohen YES RYAN YES OMFG I'M SO STOKED FOR THIS!!! One of Ebay's biggest issues is scams that run rampant on the platform. Using GameStop's physical locations as a pickup/dropoff and authentication hub for high value items would add so much value and security to the user proc…
@swamiknows_ Swami on x
The key component is what share price from GME is calculated in the offer. If around $25 as Michael Burry has noted, that is about 1.1B new shares. That would bring the total shares to 1.5B not including the warrants, bonds, or Ryan Cohen's compensation package. If the
@boilerpaulie Paul Branham on x
PROJECT SLING [image]
@reesepolitics @reesepolitics on x
GameStop with extreme volatility in overnight trading, gapping up past $28 amid EBAY rumors $GME [image]
@jake__wujastyk Jake Wujastyk on x
$GME #GameStop The breakout has started. Who knows where it goes from here, but if I were simply looking at technicals, my target is $31.25 with a potential overshoot to $34.50-$36. [image]
@jpatrades @jpatrades on x
GameStop just offered me $10 trade in credit for a $60 game eBay worth at least $750 a share
@apompliano Anthony Pompliano on x
Here we go. WSJ reporting Gamestop $GME has built a ~ 5% stake in eBay and is offering $125 a share in cash and stock. (20% premium to Friday close price). @ryancohen thinks Ebay can become a much larger competitor to Amazon. Cheering for Ryan and Gamestop here.
@kobeissiletter @kobeissiletter on x
BREAKING: GameStop, $GME, is offering to buy eBay at $125/share per WSJ. This would be a ~20% premium to eBay's closing price on Friday, meaning an implied market cap of $55 billion. That's nearly 5 times the market cap of GameStop.
@deitaone @deitaone on x
*GAMESTOP OFFERING TO BUY EBAY FOR $125 A SHARE: WSJ
@parikpatelcfa @parikpatelcfa on x
GameStop will now own eBay all because some guy called Roaring Kitty posted about the stock on Wall Street Bets in 2020
@shieldmetax Shield on x
They said GameStop was done. They shorted it into the ground. Then GameStop acquired eBay. The most shorted stock on earth just turned into a loaded gun. The shorts haven't figured out what just happened yet. 2021 was a glitch. This is the sequel nobody saw coming. [video]
@gatorgar @gatorgar on x
I will fight this with every fiber of my being. eBay is a staple of the secondhand market. Gamestop paid staff to break PS2 games in half and throw them away to artificially inflate the value of used games. We cannot let @gamestop ruin eBay. This is a threat to every hobby.
Emma McCulloch Emma McCulloch on linkedin
If you're ever in doubt about the value of Corporate Communications professionals guiding CEOs, the importance of clear messaging for broadcast intreviews …
Andrew Nemeth Andrew Nemeth on linkedin
Today's news about GameStop proposing to acquire eBay at $125 per share feels surreal in a positive way. …
Lauren Thomas Lauren Thomas on linkedin
Now it's official: I spoke to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen exclusively about why he's making a $56 billion offer for eBay. …
@petertl Peter Thal Larsen on bluesky
Every stock market cycle gets the dumb deal it deserves. And boy do we deserve this one: a $56 billion leveraged buyout offer from a meme stock whose CEO's big idea seems to be canceling eBay's marketing budget. — www.reuters.com/business/gam...
@thereverended @thereverended on bluesky
I do not want to be the bank holding that paper!
@angrydonkeynews @angrydonkeynews on bluesky
Damn Gamestop, I didn't know you rolled liked that — GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, CEO Ryan Cohen Says — www.wsj.com/business/dea...
@wario64 @wario64 on bluesky
WSJ: GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion ($125 a share) — Cohen - “EBay should be worth—and will be worth—a lot more money. I'm thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars.” — Cohen has commitment letter from TD Bank to provi…
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eBay Confirms Receipt of Unsolicited Proposal from GameStop
r/worldnews r on reddit
GameStop makes $55.5bn takeover offer for eBay
r/MediaMergers r on reddit
GameStop Offers to Buy eBay for $56 Billion
r/gme_meltdown r on reddit
GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, CEO Ryan Cohen Says
r/DeepFuckingValue r on reddit
GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, CEO Ryan Cohen Says
r/GME r on reddit
GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, CEO Ryan Cohen Says
r/Superstonk r on reddit
[confirmed] GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, CEO Ryan Cohen Says
r/technology r on reddit
GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, CEO Ryan Cohen Says
r/StockMarket r on reddit
GameStop Is Offering to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, CEO Ryan Cohen Says
r/gamingnews r on reddit
GameStop stock sinks after surprise eBay takeover bid, CEO Ryan Cohen's combative CNBC interview

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