GameStop announced on Sunday that it has made an unsolicited offer to acquire eBay for nearly $56 billion. One day later, CNBC spoke to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen about the news, in an interview media outlets have called “bizarre,” “awkward,” “evasive” and “dizzying.”
In what felt more like an SNL sketch than a CNBC interview, the billionaire CEO of GameStop provided little context or further explanation as to how the company would afford and operate eBay. Currently, eBay has a market capitalization of $46 billion, compared with GameStop’s $11 billion.
When asked how the math for the deal would actually pan out, Cohen answered: “It’s on our website. Half cash, half stock, but the details are on our website.”
But between GameStop’s market cap, $9 billion cash reserves, and the $20 billion financing confidence letter the company received from TD Securities, that still leaves Cohen short around $16 billion.
“We’ll see what happens,” Cohen responded when asked how GameStop would close that gap.
“That’s a pretty straightforward question,” CNBC coanchor Becky Quick chimed in. “I don’t get it. Where’s the rest of the money coming from?”
“I don’t understand your question,” Cohen said. “We’re offering half cash, half stock. We have the ability to issue stock in order to get the deal done, but the full details of the offer are on our website.”
Then, yesterday, Cohen posted on X that he was “selling stuff on eBay to pay for eBay.” Shortly after, Cohen said that his eBay account was suspended. His account is still live with all listings, which include baseball trading cards, a $9,000 first generation Apple iPhone, and other collectibles. Each listing includes a signed copy of Cohen’s proposal letter to eBay.
“EBay has the second largest e-commerce franchise, and there’s a big opportunity to do something much larger and pull costs out of the system, as well as accelerate revenue growth,” Cohen said in the CNBC interview. “[Our] focus on collectibles can be a much larger business, but bringing in an entrepreneurial mindset is what I plan on doing.”
GameStop has built a 5% stake in eBay. The e-commerce company posted a press release to its website, confirming receipt of GameStop’s offer but declining to comment any further while the board “carefully and thoroughly” considers the proposal.
“There’s an opportunity to make a much larger business, to make the business much more efficient, and to accelerate revenue growth,” Cohen said during the interview.
“You look at GameStop as an example,” he added. “GameStop [is a] very difficult business. [It] should’ve been bankrupt multiple times over, and it’s doing okay, it’s making a few bucks. EBay is in a very, very strong position, but it could be in a much stronger position, and it could be a much larger business than what it currently is.”
In a separate interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cohen said that GameStop’s takeover of eBay “could be a legit competitor to Amazon.” Amazon’s revenue totaled close to $717 billion, compared with GameStop’s total revenue of $3.6 billion last year.
Cohen eventually said “there’s a lot of fat to cut” at eBay, alluding to the company’s $2.4 billion spend on sales and marketing last year. He added that if he was “running the business, it would make a lot more money.”
Following the CNBC interview, GameStop stock dipped more than 10%. Investor Michael Burry, who was portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2015 film The Big Short, said he sold his entire GameStop stake.
Cohen later spoke to OpenAI-acquired talk show TBPN, where he appeared to be in better spirits. He still seemed staunch in his belief that he would be the right person to steer eBay in a new direction.
“There’s 11,500 employees,” Cohen said. “It doesn’t make sense. I could run that business from my house. It’s eBay. It looks the same as it did in 1995. It doesn’t need 11,500 employees.”