GameStop raises eBay stake to 6.6% in takeover push

GameStop has lifted its eBay stake to about 6.6%, sharpening a pressure campaign that looks increasingly like activist investing rather than a simple takeover offer. The move keeps alive Ryan Cohen’s push to buy the entire e-commerce company, even after eBay rejected the bid as “neither credible nor attractive.”

The latest filing showed GameStop’s beneficially owned common stock, plus shares tied to put and call pairs, added up to about 6.55% of eBay’s outstanding shares. That is not a control position, and it does not put GameStop anywhere near a guaranteed victory. But it is large enough to give Cohen a louder voice, more visibility and more leverage if he wants to keep pressing eBay’s directors and other shareholders for a response.

GameStop first went public with its plan on May 3, proposing to acquire 100% of eBay in a cash-and-stock deal worth roughly $55.5 billion to $56 billion. The offer priced eBay at $125.00 a share, split evenly between cash and GameStop stock, and GameStop said the bid represented a 46% premium to eBay’s unaffected closing price on February 4, the day it began accumulating shares. GameStop also disclosed about $9.4 billion in cash and liquid investments as of January 31 and said TD Securities had provided a highly confident financing letter for up to $20 billion.

That financing pledge does not make the bid easy. GameStop is far smaller than eBay and would face a complicated capital structure to close a transaction of this size. Still, Cohen has signaled that if eBay’s board keeps resisting, he could take the case directly to shareholders and make the campaign a public test of whether investors want the deal or not.

The numbers help explain why the fight is drawing attention. eBay ended 2025 with about 135 million active buyers and roughly 2.5 billion live listings globally, giving it a scale that makes the company a real target rather than a stunt. eBay also said in its first-quarter results that it accelerated GMV growth and leaned further into high-growth categories such as collectibles. Its shares have risen 35% in 2026, and Reuters said the stock is up more than 201% since Jamie Iannone became chief executive in 2020.

GameStop’s own stock has climbed about 9% this year, but it remains down 65% since Cohen became chairman in 2021. That gap underscores the gamble: a retailer still associated with meme-stock volatility is now using the tools of shareholder activism to try to force negotiations at a much larger rival. The result is a high-stakes campaign that could either win eBay’s attention or become another example of how public filings are increasingly being used as weapons in corporate control battles.