Meme Stocks' Surprise Bet: Is a $70 Billion E-Commerce Acquisition Heating Up?

On May 1, eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) disclosed that it had received a Schedule 13D filing showing GameStop Corp. had amassed an economic stake of roughly 5% through common shares and derivatives. GameStop simultaneously proposed to acquire 100% of eBay’s outstanding shares for $125 per share, payable in a combination of cash and stock. At a board meeting on May 4, eBay’s directors characterized the proposal as a nonbinding, unsolicited offer and said they would engage external advisors to evaluate the bid’s valuation and the certainty of the stock component. Shareholders were advised to take no action at this time.

On May 22, eBay’s Chief Technology Officer, Mahajan Rawashde, sold 49,000 common shares on the open market following the exercise of stock options, netting approximately $5.76 million (about ₩8 billion), and retained roughly 29,000 shares thereafter.

At a subsequent board meeting on May 12, eBay formally rejected GameStop’s takeover offer—valued at about $55.5 billion (mid-₩70 trillion)—citing financing uncertainties and post‐transaction risks. Around the same time, eBay reported its first-quarter 2026 results, reaffirming its quarterly dividend policy and confirming plans to pursue the acquisition of the fashion resale platform Depop for roughly $1.2 billion (mid-₩1 trillion).

Headquartered in the United States, eBay operates a global online marketplace that enables individuals and small businesses to buy and sell new and used goods through both auction and fixed-price formats. The U.S. e-commerce sector continues to see intensified competition from major platforms like Amazon, driving a wave of profitability-focused restructuring and mergers and acquisitions.