Ryan Cohen, chief executive of GameStop (the US video-game retailer that became a symbol of meme-stock trading in 2021), has made an unsolicited offer to acquire eBay for roughly $55.5 billion, or $125 per share in an equal cash-and-stock split, warning the bid could turn hostile if eBay's board ignores the approach. Cohen, who already holds a 5% stake in eBay, argued the e-commerce platform could be transformed into a genuine rival to Amazon and be worth hundreds of billions of dollars under GameStop's ownership. Wall Street has greeted the proposal with scepticism — GameStop's stock fell 10% after Cohen struggled in a televised interview to explain how the company would cover an estimated $16 billion funding gap — and prominent investor Michael Burry, known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, sold his GameStop shares shortly after, warning: "Never confuse debt for creativity." In a characteristically playful move, Cohen also opened an eBay storefront selling vintage games, baseball cards and a pair of white socks listed at $14,000, quipping he was "selling stuff on eBay to pay for eBay"; his account was briefly suspended before being reinstated. eBay said it had received the offer and was reviewing it with financial and legal advisers.