Video game retailer GameStop has reportedly made an unsolicited, non-binding offer to acquire eBay for $125 per share in a cash-and-stock deal, valuing the e-commerce platform at roughly $55.5 billion.

The offer, split evenly between cash and GameStop common stock, represents a 20 percent premium to eBay’s Friday close of $104.07, and a 46 percent premium to its closing price on February 4, when GameStop began building a stake in eBay, GameStop said in its statement issued Sunday. GameStop,  which became a so-called “meme stock” during a 2021 retail frenzy that drove sharp gains in its shares,  said it has built a 5 percent stake in eBay through derivatives and beneficial ownership of common stock.

Shares of eBay surged as much as 13.4 percent in after-hours trading to around $118, well below GameStop’s $125 offer, suggesting investors are skeptical the deal will close. GameStop jumped around 4 percent to $27.6 per share.

The announcement came as GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen told the Wall Street Journal that he saw a path to make the e-commerce company a much bigger competitor to Amazon.com.

“Ebay should be worth—and will be worth—a lot more money,” Cohen said in an interview. “I’m thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”

If eBay isn’t receptive to the proposal, Cohen told the WSJ that he was prepared to run a proxy fight and take the offer directly to its shareholders.

The transaction is conditioned on customary closing conditions. The cash consideration is expected to be funded from a combination of cash and liquid investments on GameStop’s balance sheet, which totaled ~$9.4 billion as of January 31, 2026, and third-party acquisition financing. GameStop said it has received a “highly-confident letter” from TD Securities for up to $20 billion.

In its media release, GameStop noted that eBay spent $2.4 billion on sales & marketing in fiscal 2025 while only adding one million net active buyers (134M to 135M – a net increase of less than 0.75 percent). GameStop said it will deliver $2 billion of annualized cost reductions within twelve months of closing, including:

  • 1.2 billion from sales & marketing: Gamestop said, “More spend is not producing more users on a marketplace with near-universal brand recognition.”
  • $300 million from product development: Gamestop noted that product Development expense grew 11% in fiscal 2025 against revenue growth of 8%.
  • ~$500 million from general & administrative. Gamestop plans to consolidate finance, HR, real estate, legal, IT, and professional services across the combined company.

GameStop said on cost reductions alone, eBay’s diluted GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations would increase from $4.26 to $7.79 in year one. Beyond cost, GameStop’s 1,600 US retail locations give eBay “a national network for authentication, intake, fulfillment, and live commerce.”

Following the closure of a detail, Ryan Cohen would serve as chief executive officer of the combined company.

The founder of the e-commerce pet food company Chewy, Cohen has led GameStop since January 2021. Over that period, GameStop moved from a $381 million net loss in fiscal 2021 to $418 million of net income in fiscal 2025, reduced SG&A by $800 million (47 percent), retired its legacy debt, and raised $4.2 billion of long-term debt at 0 percent coupon. Cohen owns 9 pecent of GameStop and receives no salary, no cash bonuses, and no golden parachute. GameStop said he will be compensated solely based on the performance of the combined company.

In recent months, eBay has been working on a turnaround, in seeking to fend off Amazon. EBay has refocused its business on younger shoppers looking for goods like trading cards or secondhand fashion. In February, the company announced the acquisition of Depop, the secondhand clothing app, for $1.2 billion.

EBay has also already been taking steps to cut costs, with a strategy that includes embracing artificial-intelligence tools to help streamline its buying and selling processes. In February, the company said it would be reducing about 6.5 percent of its global workforce, or roughly 800 employees. Late last month, eBay reported strong first-quarter results and said that its gross merchandise volume—or the total value of all paid transactions between users on its marketplace—climbed 18 percent versus the prior-year period.

EBay has not responded to GameStop’s proposal.

Image courtesy eBay, Inc,