May. 7 at 2:41 PM
$EBAY has permanently suspended
$GME CEO Ryan Cohen’s account, citing "activity that we believe was putting the eBay community at risk," according to a notice posted by Cohen
The move follows Cohen’s publicity stunt of auctioning 25 personal items on the platform—including GameStop store signs, video games, & a carpet square—in what he described as "selling stuff on eBay to pay for eBay"
Cohen had listed items that accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in bids before the suspension, w/ a GameStop mug reaching over
$3,000 & a Master Chief statue exceeding
$10,000. Each listing included a hand-signed copy of Cohen’s takeover proposal letter to eBay mgmt
The suspension comes days after GameStop announced an unsolicited
$56B bid to acquire eBay for
$125/share in cash & stock, despite GameStop’s market capitalization of just
$11.29B
The proposed acquisition has drawn sharp criticism from investors & analysts alike. Michael Burry sold his entire GameStop position after the bid announcement. "Never confuse debt for creativity," Burry stated, expressing concerns about the deal’s heavy leverage
Moody’s called the proposed deal "credit negative" for eBay, noting it would balloon the company’s debt from
$7B to
$31B
GameStop claims to have secured a
$20B financing letter from
$TD leaving a significant funding gap - struggled to explain the financing math when questioned by CNBC talking heads
Cohen has previously suggested he would pursue a proxy fight for eBay board seats if management rejects the offer.
