GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen revealed on X Wednesday that his personal eBay seller account has been permanently suspended. The ban notice from eBay stated: "Some user activities pose a risk to the eBay community." The suspension came just two days after Cohen submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire eBay for $56 billion in cash and stock at $125 per share.
Timing and Details of the Ban
On Sunday (May 4), Cohen — on behalf of GameStop — made the $56 billion acquisition offer. The eBay board has yet to respond officially. Hours before the ban, Cohen posted on X that he was "selling personal items on eBay to buy eBay," listing a pair of socks along with a link to his seller page. All listings have since been removed.
Market and Financing Concerns
eBay's stock currently trades around $109, well below the $125 offer price, largely because GameStop's market cap is less than one-tenth of eBay's. Although TD Bank issued a $2 billion financing commitment letter, the funding gap remains enormous. Many observers are perplexed by Cohen's strategy, but it has added to the meme stock's mystique.
Earlier, GameStop announced plans to buy Bitcoin as a corporate treasury reserve, sending shares up 7%, with Michael Saylor welcoming the move. In contrast, Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame has fully exited his GameStop position and criticized the eBay acquisition as "over-leveraged with insufficient interest coverage."