GameStop has raised its economic stake in eBay to more than 6%, escalating a takeover campaign that ranks among the most audacious moves in recent corporate history. The video game retailer turned Bitcoin treasury company is now sitting on a meaningful chunk of one of the internet’s oldest e-commerce platforms, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

The increased position comes after GameStop first disclosed a 5% stake in eBay back in early February 2026. Quietly accumulating shares over the past few months, the company has now crossed the 6% threshold, a level that in activist investing circles signals serious intent rather than casual portfolio diversification.

The $55.5 billion question

Here’s the thing. GameStop isn’t just buying eBay shares to collect dividends. On May 3, the company submitted an unsolicited proposal to acquire 100% of eBay at $125 per share, a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $55.5 billion. That price represented a 46% premium to eBay’s unaffected closing price at the time.

The proposed deal structure is split evenly: 50% cash and 50% GameStop common stock. To back it up, GameStop pointed to its $9.4 billion in cash on hand and a “highly confident” letter covering up to $20 billion in acquisition financing.

eBay’s board was, to put it diplomatically, unconvinced. The company rejected the proposal, questioning whether GameStop could actually pull together the financing needed for a deal of this magnitude. And the math does invite some skepticism.

GameStop’s market capitalization sits around $11 billion. So a company worth $11 billion, with $9.4 billion in cash, wants to buy a company for $55.5 billion. Even with the $20 billion financing letter and the stock component, the gap between ambition and arithmetic is considerable. It’s a bit like showing up to a Bugatti dealership with a strong credit score and a gift card.

Ryan Cohen’s e-commerce chess match

None of this makes sense without understanding the Ryan Cohen playbook. The GameStop CEO, who first rose to prominence by leading the meme stock revolution that turned a struggling mall retailer into a market phenomenon, has repeatedly signaled his desire to transform GameStop into something much bigger than a chain of stores selling used copies of FIFA.

Cohen’s broader vision appears centered on e-commerce, and eBay represents a natural, if enormous, target. The platform processes billions of dollars in gross merchandise volume annually and maintains a global footprint that GameStop’s own e-commerce operations can’t come close to matching. Acquiring eBay would catapult GameStop from a niche retailer into a major marketplace operator overnight.

The stake accumulation that began on February 4 follows a pattern familiar to anyone who has watched activist investors operate. Build a position. Make a public offer. If the offer gets rejected, keep buying shares to increase leverage. The progression from 5% to over 6% suggests GameStop is executing exactly this strategy.

Even if the full acquisition never materializes, and there are strong reasons to think it won’t in its current form, a 6%-plus stake gives GameStop meaningful influence over eBay’s strategic direction. At that level, Cohen could push for board seats, demand operational changes, or simply keep the pressure on eBay’s leadership to demonstrate they can deliver shareholder value better than a GameStop-led combination would.

What this means for investors

The market’s reaction to this saga tells an interesting story about credibility. eBay’s board dismissed the financing as unrealistic, and plenty of analysts have echoed that sentiment. A $55.5 billion deal funded by a company with roughly one-fifth of that market cap requires either extraordinary financial engineering or a level of investor enthusiasm that borders on the irrational.

But here’s what skeptics might be underestimating: GameStop has defied conventional financial logic before. The company’s stock has repeatedly surged on retail investor sentiment, and Cohen has demonstrated an ability to mobilize capital in ways that traditional valuation models don’t capture. The “highly confident” letter for $20 billion in financing suggests at least one major bank or lending syndicate is willing to entertain the idea, even if the full deal structure remains murky.

For eBay shareholders, the growing GameStop stake creates an interesting dynamic. Every share GameStop accumulates makes it harder for eBay’s board to simply ignore the overture. If GameStop reaches a level where it can credibly launch a proxy fight, eBay may be forced to negotiate, explore alternative transactions, or articulate a standalone value creation plan that justifies its independence.

For GameStop investors, the risk calculus is more complex. The $9.4 billion cash pile that has given the company strategic flexibility is being deployed into a single, massive bet on eBay. If the acquisition succeeds, it would be transformational. If it fails, GameStop will still own a significant chunk of eBay stock, which could appreciate or depreciate based on factors entirely outside Cohen’s control.

The competitive landscape matters too. eBay has been losing ground to Amazon, Shopify-powered merchants, and newer platforms for years. Cohen presumably sees an opportunity to revitalize the marketplace with fresh leadership and operational changes. Whether that thesis holds up under scrutiny is something investors will need to evaluate carefully, particularly given that eBay’s own management has spent the better part of a decade trying to solve the same problems Cohen believes he can fix.

Watch the stake percentage closely. If GameStop crosses 10%, it triggers additional regulatory disclosure requirements and signals that Cohen is prepared for a prolonged fight. The gap between 6% and 10% is where this story either becomes a real takeover battle or fades into a case study about ambition outpacing resources.