GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is putting $500M of his own money into a $56B hostile bid for eBay — and plans to build a digital in-game collectibles marketplace that nobody else has dared to create.
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is putting $500M of his own money into a $56B hostile bid for eBay — and plans to build a digital in-game collectibles marketplace that nobody else has dared to create.
TL;DR
Ryan Cohen, CEO of GameStop, joins David Friedberg to discuss his journey building Chewy (sold for $3.35B), transforming GameStop into a collectibles leader with $9.7B cash and 14% YoY revenue growth [1] — David Friedberg "GameStop $9.7B cash, 14% YoY growth: GameStop has $9.7 billion in cash, $333 million in free cash flow, and grew revenue 14% year over year…" 26:47 , and his unsolicited $56B bid for eBay. Cohen argues eBay has stagnated — GMV down, active users off 30 million since COVID, operating expenses over half of revenue — while he has a three-part plan to cut $2B in costs, dominate live commerce, and build the first digital in-game collectibles marketplace [2] — Ryan Cohen "Cohen's plan for eBay is surgical: slash $2B from a bloated $5.5B cost base, rescue eBay Live from obscurity and capture the $400B live com…" 43:59 . eBay's board has rejected the offer and refused meetings, but Cohen says he isn't going away.
Ryan Cohen, CEO of GameStop, discusses building Chewy, transforming GameStop into a collectibles leader, and his $56 billion bid to acquire eBay, including his three-part plan to cut costs, expand live commerce, and build a digital in-game collectibles marketplace.
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Cohen explains how a neighborhood pet store visit sparked the Chewy idea, outlines the recurring-revenue logic, Amazon competition dynamics, and the supply-chain discipline required to survive on razor-thin margins. [1] — Ryan Cohen "Cohen was about to launch an online jewelry store when a trip to his neighborhood pet store changed everything. He saw a fragmented, recurr…" 02:05
Cohen describes his post-Chewy framework for finding undervalued companies, how GameStop management unwittingly invited him as a 'patsy' board member, and how he ended up filing a 13D and eventually becoming CEO. [1] — Ryan Cohen "GameStop's management invited Cohen onto the board thinking he'd be their friendly shield against an activist investor. He wasn't. Cohen cr…" 13:13
Cohen and Friedberg trace eBay's arc from first-mover marketplace leader to a business that could have been Amazon but defaulted into niche categories, with a discussion of PayPal, Skype, and StubHub acquisitions. [1] — Ryan Cohen "Since COVID, every key eBay metric has gone the wrong direction: GMV down, 30 million fewer active users, operating earnings declining, and…" 40:24
Cohen outlines his strategic vision: cut $2B from eBay's cost base, dominate the $400B live commerce market using GameStop's 1,600 stores, and build the world's first liquid marketplace for in-game digital collectibles. [1] — Ryan Cohen "Cohen's plan for eBay is surgical: slash $2B from a bloated $5.5B cost base, rescue eBay Live from obscurity and capture the $400B live com…" 43:59 [2] — Ryan Cohen "NFTs promised a market for digital ownership but had no utility. In-game items like skins and weapons are different — they have real in-gam…" 48:00
Cohen describes eBay's rejection letter citing 'financing uncertainty,' the board and CEO refusing all meeting requests, and his rebuttal that the financing comes from eBay's own balance sheet. [1] — Ryan Cohen "eBay's board rejected Cohen's $56B bid, citing financing uncertainty. Cohen calls this illogical: the financing comes from eBay's own balan…" 50:06
Chapter 2 · 01:56
Cohen explains how a neighborhood pet store visit sparked the Chewy idea, outlines the recurring-revenue logic, Amazon competition dynamics, and the supply-chain discipline required to survive on razor-thin margins. [1] — Ryan Cohen "Cohen was about to launch an online jewelry store when a trip to his neighborhood pet store changed everything. He saw a fragmented, recurr…" 02:05
Cohen was about to launch an online jewelry store when a trip to his neighborhood pet store changed everything. He saw a fragmented, recurring-revenue market Amazon hadn't truly conquered — and built Chewy to fill it.
Chewy operated with negative working capital, allowing it to reach billions in revenue while consuming very little external capital.
Ryan Cohen built Chewy from scratch and sold it in 2017 for $3.35 billion, after which it went public at a significantly higher valuation.
Cohen's rule: supplier gifts signal you're losing, supplier hostility signals you're winning. His relentless, adversarial negotiation style was core to Chewy's ability to survive on razor-thin pet food margins against Amazon.
Cohen hired a woman from a nursing home who applied multiple times despite lacking conventional qualifications. She became one of Chewy's best operators. Cohen's framework: hire diehards willing to go all-in, not résumé stars.
After Cohen sold Chewy for $3.35B, it went public roughly two years later at approximately a $20 billion market cap, suggesting the sale was well below eventual market value.
Chapter 3 · 11:58
Cohen describes his post-Chewy framework for finding undervalued companies, how GameStop management unwittingly invited him as a 'patsy' board member, and how he ended up filing a 13D and eventually becoming CEO. [1] — Ryan Cohen "GameStop's management invited Cohen onto the board thinking he'd be their friendly shield against an activist investor. He wasn't. Cohen cr…" 13:13
GameStop's management invited Cohen onto the board thinking he'd be their friendly shield against an activist investor. He wasn't. Cohen crossed 5%, filed a 13D, and eventually took the CEO role because no one else was up to it.
Cohen's original thesis was simple: GameStop was likely to survive until the next PlayStation and Xbox console cycle, when hardware scarcity drives foot traffic. Everything changed when he was pulled deeper into the business.
GameStop raised $1.7 billion in 2021, using the proceeds to wipe out all of the company's debt.
Cohen tried to turn GameStop into Chewy by hiring e-commerce talent. It was wrong. Unlike Chewy's recurring consumables, GameStop sold discretionary physical inventory that could sit unsold in stores. He pivoted to collectibles instead.
Chapter 4 · 26:39
Cohen and Friedberg trace eBay's arc from first-mover marketplace leader to a business that could have been Amazon but defaulted into niche categories, with a discussion of PayPal, Skype, and StubHub acquisitions. [1] — Ryan Cohen "Since COVID, every key eBay metric has gone the wrong direction: GMV down, 30 million fewer active users, operating earnings declining, and…" 40:24
Collectibles now represent 42% of GameStop's revenue, worth approximately $350 million, reflecting the company's successful pivot from video game software.
GameStop has $9.7 billion in cash, $333 million in free cash flow, and grew revenue 14% year over year in Q1.
Since COVID, every key eBay metric has gone the wrong direction: GMV down, 30 million fewer active users, operating earnings declining, and operating expenses now consuming more than half of revenue. Meanwhile, every other e-commerce player is growing.
eBay's active user base has fallen by 30 million since COVID, alongside declining GMV and operating earnings.
eBay's operating expenses now exceed half of its revenues — a striking inefficiency for a business that holds no inventory.
In a marketplace, sellers are the product. eBay cut its concierge programs, forces sellers to rely on third-party tools, and is losing their loyalty. Cohen's fix: get engineering and sellers on the same call and solve their problems directly.
Chapter 5 · 43:58
Cohen outlines his strategic vision: cut $2B from eBay's cost base, dominate the $400B live commerce market using GameStop's 1,600 stores, and build the world's first liquid marketplace for in-game digital collectibles. [1] — Ryan Cohen "Cohen's plan for eBay is surgical: slash $2B from a bloated $5.5B cost base, rescue eBay Live from obscurity and capture the $400B live com…" 43:59 [2] — Ryan Cohen "NFTs promised a market for digital ownership but had no utility. In-game items like skins and weapons are different — they have real in-gam…" 48:00
Cohen's plan for eBay is surgical: slash $2B from a bloated $5.5B cost base, rescue eBay Live from obscurity and capture the $400B live commerce TAM, then build the world's first liquid marketplace for in-game digital items — a market he says is bigger than all of eBay's existing physical business.
Ryan Cohen's first priority if he acquires eBay is to pull $2 billion of costs out of the approximately $5.5 billion operating expense base.
eBay spent $2.4 billion on sales and marketing while achieving essentially no active user growth, a major inefficiency Cohen plans to eliminate.
Ryan Cohen cited a $400 billion total addressable market for live commerce, calling eBay's current live commerce presence embarrassingly small relative to that opportunity.
Ryan Cohen envisions using GameStop's 1,600 stores as studios, fulfillment centers, and logistics nodes to power eBay's live commerce expansion.
NFTs promised a market for digital ownership but had no utility. In-game items like skins and weapons are different — they have real in-game use, billions of players own them, and yet no liquid marketplace exists. Cohen wants eBay to be that marketplace.
Chapter 6 · 49:33
Cohen describes eBay's rejection letter citing 'financing uncertainty,' the board and CEO refusing all meeting requests, and his rebuttal that the financing comes from eBay's own balance sheet. [1] — Ryan Cohen "eBay's board rejected Cohen's $56B bid, citing financing uncertainty. Cohen calls this illogical: the financing comes from eBay's own balan…" 50:06
eBay's board rejected Cohen's $56B bid, citing financing uncertainty. Cohen calls this illogical: the financing comes from eBay's own balance sheet, so if GameStop can't get it, neither can eBay. He's committed to escalate regardless.
GameStop has made an unsolicited $56 billion offer to acquire eBay, structured as 50% cash and 50% GameStop stock at a premium.
Cohen is committing $500 million of personal capital and has never taken money out of GameStop, yet the media roots for an entrenched management team that has never bought a single open-market share. His question: what is more American than risking your own money?
Ryan Cohen is personally committing $500 million of his own money into the eBay transaction, stating he has never pulled a penny out of GameStop.
eBay's current CEO has a golden parachute valued at over $100 million if he is let go following an acquisition.
Friedberg argues the media's hostility to Cohen isn't about the eBay deal — it's about protecting the narrative that GameStop was always a meme stock. To grant Cohen credibility now would force every commentator to admit they were wrong.
No indexed bits in this chapter.
Cohen's plan for eBay is surgical: slash $2B from a bloated $5.5B cost base, rescue eBay Live from obscurity and capture the $400B live commerce TAM, then build the world's first liquid marketplace for in-game digital items — a market he says is bigger than all of eBay's existing physical business.
NFTs promised a market for digital ownership but had no utility. In-game items like skins and weapons are different — they have real in-game use, billions of players own them, and yet no liquid marketplace exists. Cohen wants eBay to be that marketplace.
This episode
Factual claims made this episode, and whether a source was named.
Chewy was sold in 2017 for $3.35 billion.
GameStop raised $1.7 billion in 2021, using the proceeds to eliminate all debt.
Collectibles represent 42% of GameStop's revenue at approximately $350 million.
GameStop's Q1 revenue was $835 million, growing 14% year over year.
GameStop has $9.7 billion in cash and $333 million in free cash flow.
eBay's active user base has fallen by 30 million since COVID.
eBay's operating expenses now exceed 50% of its revenues despite the company carrying no inventory.
eBay spent $2.4 billion on sales and marketing while achieving essentially no active user growth.
eBay's total operating expense base is approximately $5.5 billion, from which Cohen plans to cut $2 billion.
The total addressable market for live commerce is approximately $400 billion.
eBay has approximately 1,600 GameStop store locations that could be used as studios and fulfillment nodes for live commerce.
eBay's acquisition offer from GameStop is valued at $56 billion with a 50% cash and 50% stock structure.
eBay's current CEO has a golden parachute valued at over $100 million.
Ryan Cohen is personally committing $500 million of his own capital into the eBay transaction.
eBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005 and sold 70% of it for $2 billion in 2009, then Microsoft overpaid in 2011 generating another $2 billion.
AppLovin started with an $8 domain and no VC funding and became one of the largest ad platforms in the world.
This episode
The primary acquisition target of Ryan Cohen's $56 billion bid; discussed extensively for its stagnating metrics and unrealized potential.
Ryan Cohen's current company, used as the vehicle and strategic rationale for the eBay acquisition bid.
The pet supply e-commerce company Ryan Cohen built and sold for $3.35 billion, used as the foundational reference point for his operating philosophy.
Referenced repeatedly as the benchmark for e-commerce excellence and as a key competitive threat both to Chewy historically and to eBay's market position.
Cited as eBay's acquisition of Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005, which was later sold at a loss before Microsoft overpaid for it in 2011.
Mentioned in the context of Xbox console cycles as a driver of GameStop traffic, and also cited for overpaying for Skype in 2011.
Discussed as a major eBay acquisition that was later spun out, part of a discussion of eBay's history of buying and divesting businesses.
Mentioned as one of the e-commerce competitors that has captured market share from eBay through category-focused seller tools.
Episode sponsor; cited as an AI-powered mobile advertising platform reaching over a billion daily active users.
Episode sponsor; positioned as a capital markets infrastructure and financial technology provider.
Cited as a cautionary backdrop when Cohen was building Chewy, as Pets.com's dot-com era failure made investors reluctant to fund online pet retail.
Cited as another eBay acquisition that did not transition well after being sold to Viagogo's founder Eric Baker for $4 billion.
Reddit community associated with the 2021 GameStop short squeeze that turned the stock into a global meme.
Referenced as part of the console cycle thesis that was Ryan Cohen's original GameStop investment rationale.
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