US video games retailer GameStop has offered to buy eBay for $55.5bn (£41bn) in an unsolicited bid that its boss warned could turn hostile if the proposal is rebuffed by eBay’s board.
GameStop, which has quietly accumulated a 5% stake in eBay, said it was willing to pay $125 a share, split 50-50 between cash and stock.
It is an ambitious move by the games company, which catapulted to fame during the meme-stock craze of 2021 but is worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn on Friday before its bid, while eBay – originally launched as a side hobby by its founder Pierre Omidyar in 1995 – is worth about $46bn.
Just what the company needs … tens of billions in more debt.
How about, and hear me out here… How about, we jettison Ryan Cohen into the sun.
Genuinely, two out of the three GameStops near me just closed for good. How is that the sign of a company that could manage a hostile takeover of a major industry player from the dotcom era?
Edit: apostrophe on mobile
I’m so happy Ryan found Canada “too woke” and sold GameStop’s Canadian branch. Only good thing he’s done because now it’s rebranded back to the proper EB Games name and owned by Canadians
Yeah, this guy is trash. Vibe businessing needs to go.
Relevant comment from Hacker News:
This is just a leverage buyout and it will likely result in the slow death of both parties while there is value extraction for those in control. Think Sears, Toys R US and similar.
The CEO has a very specific deal where he gets paid significant compensation for specific valuations, which this is likely to achieve. That is value extraction at the cost of shareholders who will be on the hook for the leveraged loan and which will likely wipe them all out over time.
Yeah, exactly what I was thinking. I’m just saying these fuckers are parasites and I’m in favor of bringing back the original meaning of “poison pill” for these moneyed trash bags.
Don’t worry. I’ll teach you some basic economy. If you have more costs than income you should try to either increase the income, decrease costs, or even better - both. That’s what he did
Well if the rent and costs are higher than revenue, it’ll bleed and eventually kill the business. Bricks and Mortar stores don’t make as much as before.
How many GameStop shops do you actually need near you? Sounds like your area was oversubscribed.
Many great brands have died to Amazon in the UK. One day, we’ll only have these big shitty businesses. Anything that can keep bricks and mortar stores in business is probably necessary.
Didn’t expect them to be buying eBay though. That came out the blue.
Yeah, I get that, I just also am not sure they’re doing such great business online either, they had serious issues even before and after the meme stock craze.
Mostly just ticked at people enshitifying functioning businesses.
Edit: To your oversaturation point, definitely one in my immediate area was more than enough. They also closed one down around thirty minutes from me which is kinda rough for that town and the employees there.
There are reasons why I would never use Gamestop but do (currently) use eBay and have done for over 20 years.
On of those reasons is Ryan Cohen and if he takes over I will delete my account without any hesitation at all.Per Ryan Cohen’s Wikipedia page: “He supported Donald Trump during the 2024 United States presidential election, and promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was rigged. Cohen has publicly expressed criticism of Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. In early 2025, he criticized Canada and France for “wokeness and DEI” and said they have “high taxes, Liberalism, Socialism, Progressivism” that generated a challenging business environment in those markets.”
When will these billionaires just take the fact they already have far more money than they can ever spend, and FUCK RIGHT OFF!!! Let someone else run a business with morals, ethics, and a desire for something other than the extraction of wealth that can never be spent. At this point when you have so much, to chase more can only be because it denies the rest of the plane access to that wealth which could do so much economic rebalancing as well as social and environmental good.
I mean ebay is ok but I do miss things like half.com. Is this the enshitificarion of eBay now?
Yes. At least the attempt.
