When performance art collides with the capital market: Why does GameStop insist on buying eBay?

Title: “GameStop CEO Sells Socks: $56 Billion Acquisition of eBay Starts Crumbling Over a Pair of Socks”
Author: Ada, Deep潮 TechFlow

Author: Deep潮 TechFlow

Source:

Reprint: Mars Finance

In the early hours of May 7, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen posted a screenshot on X.

eBay sent him a notice that his account had been permanently suspended, citing “we believe this activity poses a risk to the eBay community.”

24 hours earlier, he had listed a pair of socks on his personal eBay account with the caption: Selling on eBay to raise money to buy eBay.

It sounds like a joke, but he’s serious. Because just three days ago, he threw out a $56 billion acquisition offer to eBay’s board.

An Unfounded Bid

On May 4, GameStop announced a non-binding takeover bid for eBay at $125 per share.

GameStop stated in the announcement that the offer would be paid half in cash and half in GameStop common stock, a 20% premium over eBay’s closing price of $104.07 on Friday, and a 46% premium over the closing price on February 4 (when the retail giant began increasing its stake in the company).

On Monday, eBay’s stock rose about 5%, to around $109, far below the $125 bid from GameStop. Meanwhile, GameStop’s stock fell about 10%, indicating investor skepticism about whether the deal can be completed.

GameStop’s current market cap is about $11.2 billion, only a small fraction of the $56 billion transaction scale. Although the company has received a letter of intent for $20 billion in financing from TD Bank, the funding gap remains large.

What’s next? Cohen gave an answer on CNBC: “We’re offering a 50/50 cash and stock deal, and we have the ability to issue more shares to complete this transaction.”

In other words, printing more stock. Using shares of a company valued at $11.2 billion to exchange for ownership of a company valued at $55.5 billion. For eBay shareholders to accept GameStop stock as consideration, GameStop’s stock price would likely need to increase fivefold first.

So, what does the market think?

Kalshi traders believe the probability of GameStop completing the acquisition by 2026 is only 26%, despite the low total trading volume of the new contract, just over $2,000.

On Polymarket, traders are even more pessimistic. They estimate the chance of GameStop completing the acquisition at only 15%.

Semafor, citing insiders, reports that eBay’s board is reviewing the bid this week, but the deal “seems to have already died,” and Cohen has failed to persuade any major shareholders to publicly support him.

A Carefully Crafted Play

48 hours after the bid was made on May 6, Cohen started listing items on his personal eBay account—socks, miscellaneous items, personal belongings—bidding totals reaching several tens of thousands of dollars.

He also launched a barrage of attacks on eBay’s board on Twitter, criticizing mismanagement. That day, he first received a notice from eBay saying he had reached his monthly listing limit. Then his account was suspended.

The phrase “poses a risk to the eBay community” in the suspension notice, paired with a person attempting to acquire eBay, looks absurd.

But this is just Cohen’s performance. If the bid can’t scare the board, then he’ll use noise to activate the retail base of GME. Let the stock price soar first—only when it rises can there be stock consideration.

Why is Cohen initiating this acquisition?

Here’s some background. In early 2026, eBay’s board adjusted Cohen’s compensation plan, granting him up to $35 billion in stock incentives if the company’s market cap reaches $100 billion. Currently, GameStop’s market cap is only about $11.2 billion. Achieving $100 billion through selling game discs is nearly impossible, so the only way is to grow the valuation via acquisitions.

Cohen’s “selling socks to acquire eBay” script has never been written for the board; it’s aimed at retail investors on Reddit’s WSB forum.

From Bitcoin to eBay

Zoom out, and you’ll see Cohen’s script has been consistent from Bitcoin to eBay.

In February 2025, he flew to meet Saylor. Three months later, he announced his entry. According to Reuters, GameStop spent $513 million to buy 4,710 bitcoins at an average cost of about $108,917 each.

When Saylor leveraged his entire balance sheet—issuing debt and borrowing—buying Bitcoin weekly, Cohen stopped after purchasing $500 million, which accounted for only 10.4% of GameStop’s cash reserves at the time. Strategy kept adding to its Bitcoin holdings weekly, but GameStop’s stock remained unchanged.

Until around January 23, 2026, GameStop transferred all 4,710 bitcoins to Coinbase Prime, preparing to liquidate.

After transferring out the Bitcoin, Cohen gave multiple interviews to foreign media, passionately discussing the acquisition plan, vowing to turn GameStop into a “Berkshire Hathaway-like” investment holding platform. When asked about the Bitcoin strategy, he repeated the often-cited phrase: “This strategy is more attractive than Bitcoin.”

What is the “more attractive strategy”? Now it appears to be using $56 billion to acquire eBay.

The logical chain closes: first, use Bitcoin narrative to boost stock price and attention; when losses appear on paper, switch to the next bigger story—mergers and acquisitions, building a Berkshire-like empire worth hundreds of billions. Each story bigger than the last, but none truly materialized.

Saylor is faith, but Cohen is acting. He doesn’t need a complete transaction; a narrative loop is enough. After finishing the Bitcoin story, he moves on to eBay. After eBay, who’s next? No one knows, but there will definitely be a next.

Why eBay?

eBay has stable cash flow, steady GMV, and consistent shareholder returns. It’s a target with annual revenue of $31 billion. As long as the combined company maintains eBay’s valuation multiple, its market cap could surpass the threshold.

So, what is Cohen after?

One explanation is: he needs a story bigger than Bitcoin.

GameStop’s core issue has never been cash shortage—the $9.4 billion cash reserve is real ammunition. But as a retailer rooted in physical stores, physical games, and secondhand trading, GameStop’s traditional business has long been eroded by digital downloads, platform operators’ own stores, and subscription services, making its current valuation of $11.2B unsustainable.

Retail investors buy into Cohen, into memes, into the possibility of “the next Berkshire.”

But possibility needs constant feeding.

Bitcoin’s treasury can sustain a hype for a while. When the momentum reverses, it’s time for something more exciting. Acquiring a company five times larger than oneself is a story that’s sufficiently stimulating.

Will the deal happen? That’s not the point.

The point is, once the bid is out, CNBC will invite him on shows, The Wall Street Journal will publish interviews, Reddit will boil over again, and GME’s stock will experience days of intense volatility. During the volatility, options traders can profit, retail investors can get the illusion of “we won again,” and Cohen can cash out some equity incentives.

And sock-selling and account bans generate a wave of free traffic.

When performance art meets the capital market

It’s important to note that Cohen is a seasoned serial entrepreneur with real achievements—he sold Chewy for $3.35 billion to PetSmart. He knows eBay’s board will never sell to a competitor worth only a fifth of its valuation, and a $56 billion bid is highly unlikely to succeed. He knows TD Bank’s $20 billion isn’t enough, and issuing more stock to dilute will be vetoed by eBay shareholders.

But he doesn’t care; he just needs to perform.

The real audience for this performance is liquidity and the attention economy itself. In an era where all assets are priced based on narratives, whoever can create the loudest noise can short-term gain the most liquidity.

Sock listings getting banned are a hundred times more effective than official press releases. Overnight, all financial media are writing about Cohen; all social platforms are sharing that ban screenshot. The free global exposure is worth far more than the transaction volume of those listed items.

Today’s capital markets blur the line between performance art and investment actions. Once, bids were genuine mergers; now, they’re just for stock volatility. Volatility means profit, profit means exit. Cohen and his crew are masters at this game.

Cohen will never truly bet; he’s always preparing for the next act. But one thing is clear: when a CEO of a listed company has to hang socks on eBay to prove his acquisition is serious, and eBay responds with a “risk to the community” ban, it’s the most precise commentary on the current era of capital markets.

When the tide recedes, the fastest runners are the fleeting followers; the true believers may even disdain the performance itself.