GameStop positioned this as a bold, transformative vision — combining the nostalgia of brick-and-mortar gaming with eBay's global marketplace reach. Cohen was painting himself as a visionary disruptor willing to swing for the fences.
Insiders are calling this whole thing a publicity stunt. One source close to the situation says Cohen 'couldn't explain how any of it worked' and that the viral CNBC moment exposed just how half-baked this proposal really was. The market smelled blood immediately.
eBay chairman Paul Pressler explicitly stated in writing: 'We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive.' The rejection came on May 12, exactly nine days after GameStop submitted the nonbinding offer on May 3. eBay shares never even reached Cohen's $125/share offer price — peaking at just $111.38.
Ryan Cohen gambled big and lost bigger. The man couldn't explain his own financing plan on national television, and now eBay has made it official: GameStop's mooted empire was never going to happen. Sometimes the meme stock king gets checked.
Well, well, well. The memes have officially come crashing down. eBay delivered a devastating rejection to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen on Tuesday, officially shutting the door on his $56 billion takeover proposal with language that could not have been more brutal. In a letter addressed directly to Cohen and released publicly, eBay chairman Paul Pressler wrote: "We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive." Ouch.
That's not corporate boilerplate — that's a public execution. The rejection marks the end of what was always looking like a pipe dream. On May 3, GameStop submitted its unsolicited, nonbinding offer to acquire eBay at $125 per share — half cash, half GameStop common stock — valuing the online marketplace at approximately $55.5 billion.
Cohen claimed he had secured a $20 billion debt financing commitment from TD Securities to help fund the deal, but that was about the only concrete detail anyone ever got out of him. And what a disaster that CNBC appearance turned out to be. When pressed last week about how exactly GameStop planned to finance such an enormous acquisition, Cohen had no real answers.
"It's on our website," he stammered. "It's half cash, half stock." The awkward exchange went viral within minutes, with Wall Street and internet observers alike wondering if this whole thing was nothing more than a elaborate attention grab. Turns out, they were right to be skeptical. eBay's board laid out exactly why they wanted no part of Cohen's vision.
According to their official statement, the rejection factored in "eBay's standalone prospects," "the uncertainty regarding your financing proposal," "the impact of your proposal on eBay's long-term growth and profitability," and — perhaps most damningly — "GameStop's governance and executive incentives." The board also cited concerns about "leverage, operational risks, and leadership structure of a combined entity" alongside questions about what such a merger would even mean for valuation. Pressler added that eBay is confident in its current trajectory under existing management, describing the company as "well-positioned to continue to drive sustainable growth." The markets had already telegraphed their disbelief long before Tuesday's announcement. eBay shares peaked at just $111.38 per share after Cohen's offer became public — well below the promised $125 — and closed Monday at $108.13. Investors clearly didn't think this deal was ever closing, and now we know they were right all along.
