GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, Who Is Trying to Buy eBay for $56 Billion, Says He Was Suspended From eBay

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen says his relationship was suspended from eBay amid a thrust to merchantability items connected the auction tract he’s trying to bargain for $56 billion.

Yesterday, billionaire entrepreneur Cohen tweeted to accidental helium was “selling worldly connected eBay to wage for eBay,” amid questions astir however helium would rise capable wealth to bargain the business. Listings see shot cards, a brace of socks (for implicit $14,000!), and adjacent GameStop store signs astatine ridiculous prices. Each listing besides includes a hand-signed 'Letter to eBay' arsenic a "THANK YOU for your support."

Cohen past tweeted that helium was connected the telephone to eBay aft being told helium had reached the $50,000 per period bounds for sales.

on telephone with lawsuit enactment @eBay . delight respond @eBay pic.twitter.com/HuUKxwivqN

While intelligibly a stunt, Cohen has followed up his selling spree to accidental helium was suspended from eBay, alongside an representation of an evident announcement that claims the determination was made “because of enactment that we judge was putting the eBay assemblage astatine risk.”

I person been suspended from eBay pic.twitter.com/0vadYCQ6KE

However, the relationship is, astatine the clip of this article's publication, active, with bids successful spot for the assorted items Cohen has enactment up for sale. So, either Cohen was subsequently reinstated — contempt the announcement allegedly saying Cohen had been "permanently" suspended, or, yes, this is conscionable different stunt. IGN has asked eBay for clarification.

Cohen began selling items connected eBay pursuing a bizarre interrogation successful which helium continued to accidental helium didn’t recognize questions astir wherever helium would get each the wealth helium needs to bargain the company.

Earlier this week, GameStop made an unsolicited $55.5 cardinal connection to bargain eBay astatine $125.00 per stock successful currency and stock. Cohen, who would go CEO of the combined institution should the woody spell through, says helium wants to marque eBay a “legit rival to Amazon” arsenic helium bids to turn his concern beyond games and collectibles and deed a $35 cardinal payout successful the process.

GameStop said the currency portion of the connection is expected to beryllium funded from a operation of currency and liquid investments connected GameStop’s equilibrium sheet, which totaled $9.4 cardinal arsenic of January 31, 2026, and “third-party acquisition financing,” with up to $20 cardinal successful indebtedness financing from TD Securities.

With GameStop presently valued astatine $10.69 cardinal (assuming GameStop is providing each its banal for the deal), Cohen is looking astatine a $16 cardinal shortfall. But successful an interrogation with CNBC’s Squawk Box programme, Cohen repeatedly refused to accidental wherever the wealth would travel from, insisting helium didn’t recognize the enactment of questioning and repeatedly pointing to the GameStop website.

“It’s connected our website. It’s fractional cash, fractional stock. But the details are connected our website,” Cohen replied erstwhile interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin asked to marque “the mathematics math.” The proposition is that the projected woody could necessitate important stock issuances that would massively dilute existing shareholders.

The Wall Street Journal has said Cohen whitethorn crook to Middle Eastern sovereign-wealth funds to plug the wealth gap, but helium failed to suggest that would beryllium the lawsuit successful the interview.

Will eBay spell for the deal? The auction website told IGN it had nary discussions with oregon outreach from GameStop anterior to receiving the proposal, but it said its Board of Directors, successful consultation with its fiscal and ineligible advisors, “will cautiously reappraisal and see the unsolicited connection to find the people of enactment that it believes is successful the champion interests of the institution and each eBay shareholders.”

“The Board volition reappraisal this connection with a absorption connected the worth to beryllium delivered to eBay shareholders, including the worth of the GameStop banal information and the quality of GameStop to present a binding, actionable proposal,” eBay continued.

It’s worthy noting that Cohen could marque up to $35 cardinal successful banal if the company’s marketplace worth hits $100 billion, among different compensation bundle criteria. In January, the 40-year-old billionaire told The Wall Street Journal helium wanted a “big” woody that is “ultimately either going to beryllium genius oregon totally, wholly foolish.”

As of January, Cohen had a involvement of implicit 9% successful GameStop and was its biggest idiosyncratic shareholder. Investor Michael Burry, who owns shares successful the company, said earlier this twelvemonth that Cohen “has a crappy business, and helium is milking it champion helium tin portion taking vantage of the meme banal improvement to rise currency and hold for an accidental to marque a large bargain of a existent increasing currency cattle business.”

At the opening of 2025, GameStop had astir 2,325 locations successful the U.S., but by the extremity of the twelvemonth it had closed 590 of them. It past kicked disconnected 2026 by closing adjacent much stores arsenic portion of an effort to trim costs.

For years present immoderate person called GameStop a dying bricks and mortar retailer arsenic it looks to caller and often bizarre ways to make revenue. August 2023 saw the institution propulsion retired of crypto, and it unopen its short-lived NFT marketplace conscionable a fewer months later. More precocious (and overmuch to the dismay of its employees), GameStop held its first-ever Trade Anything Day, which saw customers bringing successful virtually thing for trade-in recognition astatine their section stores.

Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].