Since it involves Gamestop, there is skepticism that the report is not fiction.
Nothing has surfaced about how financing for such a deal would be arranged.
Do not expect the usual suspects who were screwed in the meme stock short squeeze to participate in the financing.
Um, wasn’t April Fools last month???
For those of you that are curious, that thump sound was me, falling off my chair from the laughing.
As soon as I saw that I came here… though eBay is worth quadruple what GS is worth, they are trying. I pray not because eBay is really close to amazing as it is. GS probably wants to control the gaming resell industry. Which means they will run eBay into the ground 
IMO, at least
I died a little inside at the thought, so it was a bit of my soul joining you 
In a letter to Paul Pressler, chairman at eBay, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said, “we will take $2 billion of annualized costs out within twelve months of close,” the document said. In addition, GameStop’s roughly 1,600 US locations give eBay a national network for authentication, intake, fulfillment and live commerce, the letter said.
Plus, GameStop evidently already holds a 5% stake in eBay. Who knew? D-FW’s GameStop bids $56 billion to buy iconic internet auctioneer eBay
I have a 5% stake in my daughter’s opinions, you know where that gets me?
Ahh, that’s what she WANTS you to think; the real number is much lower! 
AAANNNNDDDD The offer has been made:
An offer to be paid in half diluted stock.
My crystal ball is fuzzy, it cannot predict what that stock will be worth.
Cohen might have a big surprise if he succeeds. Ebay is cutting their functions performed by humans at a rapid rate, Maybe he has a trick which is going to go further, but Gamestop has never impressed me as an investment, Neither has Ebay or Amazon for that matter. I am not very good at timing my exits from stocks.
Two very interesting pieces on this, from not-the-usual suspects
According to PC Gamer, GameStop’s offer to acquire eBay is a nonbinding proposal that values the e-commerce platform at $55.5 billion, or $125 per share. The deal would be funded through a mix of cash and stock, but it is unclear how GameStop plans to put together the financing, given that its current market cap sits at around $12 billion, a fraction of what the deal would actually cost.
During the interview, CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin pressed Cohen on how GameStop plans to pay for the acquisition. When Sorkin pointed out that GameStop’s market cap and cash reserves are not enough to cover the $56 billion price tag, Cohen directed him to the company’s website. When asked again, he said GameStop could issue stock to get the deal done, but still could not explain where the money would actually come from.
GameStop’s core case against eBay isn’t about assets or synergies. It’s about marketing efficiency. Specifically, GameStop notes that EBay spent $2.4 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal 2025 while adding exactly one million net active buyers — a gain of less than 0.75%, from 134 million to 135 million. GameStop’s proposed remedy: cut the marketing budget roughly in half, saving $1.2 billion annually. “More spend is not producing more users on a marketplace with near-universal brand recognition,” the proposal states flatly.
So there are still people who never learned from the .com bust 20 years ago…
Shockingly, ebay doesn’t need Gamestop to implement this strategy. If ebay isn’t capable of deciding whether or not their marketing budget is money well spent, they need a new head of marketing not a new corporate owner.
So the Ebay stock holders get $62.50 and some diluted or soon to be diluted stock.
My crystal ball is blurry and cannot determine what the stock might be worth,
I would be hurt by whatever they do to Ebay, but less than those Ebay shareholders.
IMO Ebay’s marketing does not suck, Ebay’s marketing is designed to make shareholders think that they are going everything they can to increase revenue. Most of it is money down the drain, which is better than a stock price down the drain.
I may have used my cynicism quota for the day in this post.
Not a problem, my friend.
My own supply of that is utterly inexhaustible, & I’ve got your back!
Funny as I was thinking the same thing. They won’t care about eBay as its own market. Look how many times companies purchase other companies, strip the assets, and then close down what’s left. I think there is a strong likelihood what you mentioned plays out.
I’m actually wondering if it’s all a ploy to put public pressure on eBay to partner with GameStop as at least a physical drop/pick up option for eBay shoppers and/or valuation point for Sellers…if not also to take charge of eBay’s gaming categories. 
I mean, the guy can’t even answer where the bid money will come from. Maybe that’s because it’s not the actual endgame?