GameStop lacks the money for its eBay bid, and Ryan Cohen's interview suggests he is using retail investors as exit liquidity. The proposal offers $125 per eBay share, half cash and half GameStop stock, valuing eBay equity at $55.5 billion, with a TD Securities letter for up to $20 billion of financing. The interview sent GameStop shares lower. x.com 

A GameStop bid for eBay looks unworkable, so both stocks should fade. GameStop would need to issue about 1 billion shares, wipe out its treasury and take on heavy debt, making Elon Musk's Twitter deal look easy. The deal probably never happens, and if a real offer is made, GameStop has no chance of trading up. x.com 

GameStop's $56 billion, $125-a-share bid for eBay could unlock over $100 billion of value by turning eBay from a stagnant auction site into a true Amazon rival under Ryan Cohen. Synergies span collectibles, trading cards, live commerce and store pickups, plus cost cuts and AI upgrades. Cohen's track record stands out, and the absence of any Wall Street buy rating on GameStop is a strong contrarian buy signal. x.com 

eBay looks overpriced at $116.50 against GameStop's takeover math, making a short cheap convexity. GameStop's original $125 offer, half cash and half stock, now implies about $116-117 after GameStop's roughly 15% drop, while a rational 10% arb spread would need a $129-130 bid. Funding that with GameStop stock needs about 20% more or heavy leverage. eBay is not a pretty asset and hardly the tip of the spear in new commerce; a higher bidder is the risk. x.com  x.com 

GameStop's eBay bid was a botched strategy from the start, and Bloomberg's report that it is considering withdrawing the bid in favor of a partnership or joint venture reinforces that view. x.com 

GameStop looks like a reasonable bet despite misgivings about CEO Ryan Cohen, because it holds a ton of cash and is not buying eBay. x.com 

GameStop shareholders face about 70% dilution to fund CEO Ryan Cohen's $56 billion offer to buy eBay, with no short squeeze coming. A year ago Cohen was hyping Bitcoin purchases, which raises doubts about whether he knows what he is doing. After that interview, a GameStop shareholder should sell every last share. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com 

Avoiding GameStop's unsolicited proposal and Ryan Cohen's weak execution leaves eBay better placed. eBay is easily worth over $100B today and should be worth much more in five years without GameStop and Cohen; Cohen is not the one to beat Amazon. x.com 

GameStop's proposal to acquire eBay matters most because it would put Ryan Cohen in charge of the combined company, which should create more shareholder value than anything else. Cohen founded Chewy, now a $10B company, saved GameStop from its demise and built a fortified balance sheet. Dismissing the proposal is a rookie mistake. x.com  x.com 

GameStop's offer for eBay makes zero sense, and the whole episode was a clown show. eBay is a consistent money-making machine without any real competition, so if GameStop wants it, GameStop needs to prove it can afford it. @JesseTinsley framed eBay's board rejection of the offer as "neither credible nor attractive" as dodging accountability for overstaffing; whether eBay is overstaffed is irrelevant to the deal. x.com