SAN JOSE, California, May 4, 2026, 04:06 (PDT)
GameStop Corp. launched a surprise $55.5 billion bid for eBay Inc. on Monday, offering $125 per share in cash and stock and thrusting eBay into an active takeover battle. Shares of eBay did climb in premarket hours, but the stock never came close to matching the offer price—clear evidence that investors remain skeptical about the videogame retailer’s ability to pull off such a deal.
The bid’s timing puts eBay’s comeback squarely in the spotlight, now framed as a fight for control. GameStop is offering a mix—half cash, half its own shares—with full shareholder election rights, and says the deal values eBay at a 46% premium to where it closed on Feb. 4, the date GameStop disclosed it started buying in.
Just days after posting $3.1 billion in first-quarter revenue and a $22.2 billion gross merchandise volume, eBay is taking this step. Chief Executive Jamie Iannone described the quarter as a “strong start to the year,” adding that marketplace volume growth had picked up pace. eBay Investors
A Schedule 13D showed GameStop holds 25,000 eBay shares outright, and through put/call pairs—derivatives linked to eBay’s price—it’s economically exposed to another 22.176 million shares. That works out to about 5.0% of eBay’s stock. Still, GameStop clarified it can’t vote or sell those derivative-tied shares unless they’re physically settled and antitrust hurdles are cleared.
GameStop plans to cover the cash portion with around $9.4 billion in available cash and liquid investments, plus outside financing. The company cited a “highly-confident” letter from TD Securities backing up to $20 billion. In the offer letter, chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen said he’d take the helm of the combined business. He also pledged “no salary, no cash bonuses, and no golden parachute.” SEC
Cohen’s message lands with little ambiguity: take eBay and use it to pull GameStop out of its niche—past games, collectibles, and the traditional storefront. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, he told them, as cited by Reuters, that eBay “could be a legit competitor to Amazon.” He’s willing to appeal directly to eBay shareholders if the board stands in the way. Reuters noted eBay hadn’t responded to requests for comment. Reuters
Money remains the sticking point. Bernstein analysts called out “real challenges” in pulling off a deal for a target whose market cap dwarfs GameStop’s. They also cautioned that the move could inject more risk into eBay’s turnaround, which the company maintains is making headway. Wall Street Journal
GameStop criticized eBay’s spending, pointing out that eBay poured $2.4 billion into sales and marketing in fiscal 2025 for just one million net new active buyers. GameStop argued it could slash $2 billion in yearly costs inside a year of closing—targeting sales and marketing, product development, and general admin expenses.
eBay’s recent moves in resale and collectibles are colliding with this same strategy. Back in February, the company struck a $1.2 billion all-cash deal to acquire Depop from Etsy—a bid to tap into the fast-growing secondhand fashion market and attract younger shoppers. Depop, with 7 million active buyers at the close of 2025, boasted a customer base where nearly 90% were under age 34.
The catch is significant. This isn’t a binding offer—everything from negotiation and financing to regulatory and shareholder sign-off still hangs in the balance. GameStop itself cautioned in its filing that the deal might never get off the ground. If talks collapse, eBay could wind up with a restive shareholder crowd and fresh scrutiny on whether its board should double down on cost cuts or start courting other suitors.
So far, eBay has landed a bidder—no agreement yet. The gap between its trading price and the $125 offer? That’s the market weighing in for the first round.
