GameStop chief executive Ryan Cohen has signalled he will take his unsolicited $55.5bn takeover proposal for eBay directly to the company's shareholders, after the online marketplace turned down the offer without discussion.
In an email to eBay chair Paul Pressler, which was seen by the Financial Times, Cohen has expressed disapproval at the board's refusal to engage with GameStop's $125-per-share cash-and-stock proposal or even agree to a meeting.
Cohen wrote: “eBay's directors should not dismiss a $125 per share proposal without engaging on its substance. The economics are clear and they are public. eBay's own shareholders deserve the opportunity to evaluate them.”
The non-binding proposal, submitted in early May, would have split consideration equally between cash and GameStop common stock.
eBay rejected it this week, calling it “neither credible nor attractive” and citing concerns over financing arrangements, the combined entity's debt load, and GameStop's governance and executive compensation structure.
Cohen, who has led GameStop since January 2021 and holds 9% of the company, challenged the board's authority to act unilaterally.
“eBay's directors do not own eBay,” he wrote. “They have presided over five years of net user decline.”
He also directed criticism at eBay chief executive Jamie Iannone, noting that Iannone received $144m in compensation during his six-year tenure while the platform's active buyer base decreased and had not purchased eBay shares on the open market during that period.
To underpin its approach, GameStop has quietly accumulated a 5% stake in eBay.
The move positions the retailer, which has a market capitalisation of approximately $10.3bn, for a potential hostile bid against a company with a market value that exceeds $50bn.
In March, eBay unveiled plans to reduce its global headcount by approximately 6%, equivalent to 800 jobs, as part of a broader cost-reduction and organisational overhaul.
In a statement emailed to Retail Insight Network at the time, a spokesperson said the restructuring would involve “certain” positions across the workforce.
Retail Insight Network has reached out to GameStop for comment.
