The eBay board of directors did not seem pleased with GameStop’s CEO on Tuesday, firmly rejecting an offer from last week that was followed by continued online antics.
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen offered $55.5 billion for the online auction site last Sunday, saying that with his expertise, eBay could become a rival to Amazon.
‘We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive.’
This was followed by a series of comical posts on X by Cohen, who wrote messages like, “I’m selling stuff on eBay to pay for eBay.”
The CEO was selling memorabilia from video games and even GameStop signs before he was eventually suspended from the online marketplace.
On Tuesday, eBay announced that its board of directors was rejecting GameStop’s “unsolicited, non-binding acquisition proposal.”
“Dear Mr. Cohen,” eBay wrote in a press release. “The board, with the support of its independent advisers, has thoroughly reviewed your proposal and has determined to reject it.”
“We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive,” eBay added.
Cohen’s proposal to buy 100% of eBay was valued at $125 per share in a 50/50 deal comprised of cash and GameStop’s own stock.
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The formal offer from Cohen promised to reduce costs at eBay by at least $2 billion within 12 months. He intended on cutting the marketing budget in half while slicing $300 million off of product development and reducing administrative costs by $500 million, among other moves.
In its formal rejection though, eBay went on the defensive, saying it remains a “strong, resilient business that has delivered meaningful results over the past several years.”
“eBay’s board is confident that the company, under its current management team, is well-positioned to continue to drive sustainable growth, execute with discipline, and deliver long-term value for our shareholders,” the company added.
Paul S. Pressler, eBay’s chairman of the board of directors, specified the reasons for their rejection, such as the “uncertainty” of Cohen’s financial proposal, the impact it may have on “long-term growth and profitability,” and how GameStop governs its own C-suite.
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While the degree of animosity shown by eBay seems unusual, it comes after Cohen made several antagonistic posts, like asking eBay to please respond to his customer service inquiries.
“On phone with customer support @eBay. please respond @eBay,” Cohen wrote on X.
Cohen then called stock sales by eBay “insiders” into question, and he mocked the company’s lack of customer service on social media.
“You’d think with 2.4 billion in marketing spend, they could login to X,” he wrote.
At the time of this writing, Cohen had not made any additional public statements regarding eBay’s rejection.
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