Ryan Cohen scraps $35 billion pay deal to pursue eBay takeover

The move to strip the performance award—which would have granted Cohen 171.5 million share options tied to aggressive market cap and profit targets—follows mounting pressure from critics. Investors like Michael Burry have openly questioned whether Cohen’s pursuit of eBay is driven by long-term synergy or a shortcut to his own payout. Cohen, however, remains undeterred, pledging $500 million of his personal capital to the deal and refusing to rule out a hostile takeover after his initial offer was rejected in May.

Cohen envisions a radical transformation for the $48 billion marketplace, proposing to leverage GameStop’s 1,600 physical locations as fulfillment centers and live-commerce studios. He believes the integration could unlock significant cost savings and fuel a new push into digital collectibles. With the proxy statement now purged of his pay package, the executive is shifting the narrative toward the strategic rationale of the acquisition, promising to release a detailed roadmap for the combined entity later this week.