GameStop CEO baffles CNBC anchors in bizarre interview
After making an unsolicited offer to buy eBay for $56 billion, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen—sometimes referred to as the 'meme stock king'—went on CNBC to answer questions about the surprising move, as one does.
He declined, however, to provide a satisfying answer to "a pretty straightforward question," as one anchor put it: How are you going to buy eBay for $56 billion if you don't have that much money?
To start the interview, Cohen claimed that eBay "could be a much larger business" with the help of "an entrepreneurial mindset." His plan, according to GameStop's press release, is to cut $2 billion from eBay's budget within just a year.
Pressed to explain how GameStop can pay for the acquisition, however, Cohen directed interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin to the press release, which states that GameStop will make the acquisition with 50% stock and 50% cash.
Sorkin then added up GameStop's market capitalization, cash, and expected (but not yet secured) financing from TD Securities, reaching a number $16 billion less than the $56 billion offer, to which Cohen responded, "Yeah, well we'll see what happens."
A baffled Sorkin rephrased the question, and co-anchor Becky Quick jumped in with a perplexed laugh: "Ryan, that's a pretty straightforward question. I don't get it. Where's the rest of the money come from?"
Cohen claimed not to understand the interviewers, saying that GameStop can issue stock to get the deal done. At that point, CNBC cut to another interviewer. My description doesn't quite express the full awkwardness of the exchange, which is embedded above.
The GameStop CEO may yet pull off the acquisition, but for now the market has reacted to his announcement with a 10% dip in GameStop's share price.
In a press release of its own, eBay confirmed that today is the first it's hearing of the proposal, which it will "carefully review and consider" before commenting further.
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