May 5, 2026 · 27m · tbpn
FULL INTERVIEW: GameStop’s Ryan Cohen on Why He’s Buying eBay
0:00 / 0:00
▶ Watch on YouTube →
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this extensive interview, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen explains his unsolicited $125 per share half-cash, half-stock proposal to acquire eBay, outlining his strategies for aggressive cost rationalization, physical retail authentication synergies, and long-term platform modernization.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The hosts as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 4.1 Guest disagreement 4.2 The hosts pushing back 2.0
speaking balance: gold is the hosts, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:46 Twitter advertiser conspiracy pushback
Cohen forcefully rejects standard business critiques of Twitter's cuts, asserting advertisers conspired against Musk due to a demented political landscape hostile to free speech.
Hardest push from the hosts ▶ 15:51 Pressing Cohen on deal financing and timelineThe host presses Cohen to explain exactly how the half-cash, half-stock financing is marshaled and whether external financiers are involved.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:20 Dissecting eBay's SG&A and headcount bloatCohen breaks down the exact operational economics of eBay, noting that spending five and a half billion on operating expenses for an asset-light business with 11,500 employees is completely unjustifiable.
The host holds their own ▶ 19:54 Proposing stablecoins for transaction fee reductionThe host introduces the operator thesis of utilizing stablecoin settlement to reduce high-volume transaction payment processing fees.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The hosts as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The hosts pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameStop's Unsolicited Proposal to Acquire eBay | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Hosts ask exploratory questions regarding the deal structure and 5-year vision. Cohen details how GameStop's physical store network could solve eBay's collectible authentication issues and criticizes eBay's stagnated operations. | |
| Expanding into Live Commerce and Creator Partnerships | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | Cohen aggressively criticizes eBay's operational overhead and marketing spend, comparing it to GameStop's 47% SG&A reduction. He rejects traditional marketing corporate incentives and asserts he could run the asset-light business from his house. | |
| Applying Lean Startup Principles and the Twitter Restructuring | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | Jordy asks about Elon Musk's Twitter restructuring as a blueprint. Cohen defends Twitter's cost reductions and attacks advertisers for conspiring against free speech, emphasizing that smaller teams operate much faster. | |
| Long-Term Ownership Ambitions Beyond Traditional Activist Investing | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | Hosts inquire about Cohen's alternative plans if M&A fails and his compensation structure. Cohen details his 100% performance-based alignment and mocks eBay's board for trying to dig up dirt on his personal assistant listing. | |
| Shareholder Alignment, Market Volatility, and Michael Burry's Exit | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | Jordy asks about Michael Burry exiting his position and investor sentiment. Cohen brushes off Burry's exit as short-term trading rather than long-term conviction, referencing his experience building Chewy through constant skepticism. | |
| Deal Financing Structure and Debt Commitment Letters | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Hosts ask about the debt package and draw comparisons to Paramount. Cohen explains the cash and debt commitment letter details while criticizing eBay's board of directors for high pay without personal insider buying. | |
| Expanding Digital Marketplaces and Payment Cost Efficiencies | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Host brings up potential expansion into digital goods and stablecoins for payment cost savings. Cohen admits digital gaming items suffer from rampant fraud on eBay but candidly states he has not looked into stablecoin payments. | |
| Seller Experience Improvements and Retail Store Footprint Management | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | Hosts ask about eBay's AI leverage and retail store footprint management. Cohen criticizes eBay's past lack of responsiveness, claiming corporate personnel are constantly on vacation and lacking any sense of urgency. | |
| Strategic Focus on Luxury Collectibles and Global Financing Sources | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Hosts ask about Etsy comparisons, luxury collectibles, and international sovereign financing options. Cohen reiterates that live commerce and high-end collectibles remain the focal point while concluding the interview. |
Statements from this episode (24)
Cohen: GameStop offered $125 per share half-cash, half-stock for eBay
“We made an offer yesterday. 125 bucks a share. Half cash, half stock.”
Ryan Cohen: GameStop has 1,600 access points for authentication
“We've got 1600 access points that we can do live authentication.”
Cohen: eBay has 130M users but gets crushed in live commerce
“EBay has a hundred and thirty million users and they're getting crushed by competitors in live commerce.”
Ryan Cohen: eBay live commerce strategy relies on creator partnerships and UI
“Yeah, it would be partnering with creators. I mean, they've got the platform, We would improve the platform so it looks better and more consistent with the kind of UI that you have at competitors, but there's the user base. And so it's not something you have t…”
Cohen: Large tech competitors cannot acquire eBay due to antitrust
“The strategics can't really do it because I don't think that they would be able to clear antitrust. So any of the large competitors wouldn't be able to acquire it.”
Cohen: GameStop cut SG&A by 47% and $800M
“And if you look at SG&A, we've pulled out, we've dropped SG&A by 47%, eight hundred million dollars, by making marketing more efficient, almost turning off marketing.”
Cohen: eBay's $5.5B opex and 11,500 headcount make no sense
“They're spending five and a half billion dollars on operating expenses on eleven billion dollar business that Has no inventory in its asset lights. So, it just, there's 11 and a half thousand employees, and it doesn't make sense.”
Cohen: Advertisers Conspired Against Twitter Due to Politics, Not Cuts
“What really happened at Twitter was that the advertisers, you know, I don't know what the situation is now, but they pretty much conspired against him, and, you know, it had nothing to do, my understanding is it really had nothing to do with the cost cuts, mor…”
Cohen: Twitter's Smaller Engineering Teams Are Innovating Faster
“And so like you look at the usability of the platform and the teams, the engineering teams are much smaller and they're innovating a lot faster.”
Cohen: eBay's Business Model Future Is More Certain Than Most Tech Businesses
“You know, I think that eBay is the kind of business where the future of the business model is more certain than most tech businesses, and that's why it's done so well. And, you know, there's been such a lack of innovation, yet it hasn't been able to be disrupt…”
Ryan Cohen intends to permanently run eBay, not act as an activist.
“The goal here isn't to be an activist. The goal is I want to own eBay. I want to run eBay. Like, I want that to be my baby.”
Cohen: eBay has more runway than Chewy and is 'Chewy on steroids'
“EBay is like Chewy on steroids. And so there's so much more runway, and it's global.”
Cohen's compensation requires doubling GameStop's market cap to start vesting.
“My current compensation plan is tied to really lofty metrics, and it's based on the first tranche I've got to double market cap, as an example, just to hit the first tranche, and the 10 exit in order for it to fully invest.”
Ryan Cohen has taken zero salary or bonuses as GameStop CEO.
“I haven't taken a dollar of salary or any bonuses”
Cohen: eBay is worth far more than $125/share under his leadership
“When I think about what eBay could be worth, if I'm running this business, I believe it's a heck of a lot more than a 125 dollars a share.”
Ryan Cohen: GameStop Has $20B Bank Letter and $9B Cash for Bid
“We have the cash accounted for today in terms of, ah, a highly confident letter from our bank for the twenty billion, plus we've got nine billion of cash, so.”
Cohen: eBay directors make $350K-$450K each with zero insider buying
“You know, the directors board of directors make four million dollars. It's like 350 to 450,000 per director. There's been no insider buying at the company.”
Cohen: Majority of personal net worth will be tied to eBay deal
“Well I haven't done the math, but if things go correctly, then it better be the majority. Otherwise I'm wasting my time.”
Cohen: eBay Sells Digital Goods but Handles Delivery and Fraud Poorly
“In terms of the digital marketplace, and they are already doing it to a certain extent. I mean, like, all kinds of Roblox digital items are bought and sold, but and I've actually bought them for my kids, and there's so much fraud on the platform. Like, we're b…”
Cohen: GameStop retail store leases run two to three years
“This was part of what appealed to me originally when I went into GameStop was the leases were short term. So they're like two to three year leases.”
Cohen: Authenticating eBay Collectibles at GameStop Stores Would Cost Zero Capex
“Well, that would, so yes, and it would basically take zero dollars in capex in order to something like that, and it's a good idea.”
Cohen: eBay Ignored Partnership Outreach One to Two Years Ago
“I reached out to eBay, like, I don't know, maybe a year or two years ago to talk to them about partnering, and They didn't engage seriously.”