eBay Rejects GameStop's $56 Billion Acquisition Proposal

This acquisition initiated by the "Meme Stock King," attempting to swallow an elephant, ended in dramatic failure.

The eBay board officially rejected GameStop's non-binding acquisition proposal of $56 billion last week on Tuesday, and in an open letter to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, the language was strong: "We believe your proposal is neither credible nor attractive."

The board's reasons included uncertainty in financing arrangements and risks at the operational level after the merger.

GameStop, with a market value of $11 billion, attempted to acquire eBay, valued at $45 billion

GameStop proposed to acquire eBay for $125 per share in cash and stock, while eBay's stock price was around $104 before the announcement, with a market value of about $45 billion—four times GameStop's own market value of $11 billion.

Cohen stated that the company had received a commitment letter for up to $20 billion in debt financing from TD Bank, in addition to about $9 billion in cash on GameStop's books, but analysts widely questioned how the remaining funding gap would be filled.

CNBC interview triggers doubts, predicted market success probability drops to 15%

Initially, after the announcement, both companies' stock prices rose before the market opened, and market sentiment was once optimistic.

However, Cohen's live interview on CNBC quickly escalated Wall Street's doubts. Cohen, dressed in a leather jacket and with a blurred background, only responded when repeatedly questioned about financing details: "It's all written on the website, half cash, half stock." This response quickly spread widely on the internet in various meme forms.

On the Polymarket forecasting platform, the probability of Cohen's successful acquisition of eBay plummeted to about 15% after the CNBC interview.

Cohen himself responded to doubts in his usual self-deprecating style—he posted on X that he had created his own eBay account to start selling items, "to pay for eBay." His eBay listings included several signed baseball cards and a pair of his own socks, the latter priced at over $14,000.

By last Thursday's closing, GameStop's stock price had given up all gains, and eBay's stock closed at $106.42, far below Cohen's offer.