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GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

bbc.co.uk

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Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#241

Post by jimz »

GaryBluto wrote: post #128
kome wrote: post #39

ebay is still "old internet", and genuinely useful and well built. enshittification is incoming...

Have you used eBay in the last few years? It's awful for sellers and awful for buyers. This is coming from somebody who buys on eBay twice a month on average.

It's not great for sellers either. I was banned during the time period before the Paypal divestment for having the galls to subpoena a nonpaying buyer's records. They take a cut from both sides. Sotheby's takes 10.5% (I think). eBay takes twice that for something comparable in value.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#242

Post by vallassy »

boringg wrote: post #236
consp wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the modern world if you are a bank you will be bailed out eventually, thus your problem becoming everyone's problem.

Ah-hem SVB?

An outlier in historical terms (i.e. the last 20 years)

https://projects.propublica.org/bailout/list

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#243

Post by twoodfin »

sbarre wrote: post #235
getnormality wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the should-be-illegal process of putting debt on the acquired company's balance sheet. I agree it's weird but ultimately the check against dumb lending is natural consequences for the lender, right? If you ask me for billions in loans for your zero revenue company and I give it to you, whose problem is that but my own?

It's the problem of all the employees (and potentially customers) of the company being plundered. They have no say in the matter, and given that the lender can probably absorb the loss without, you know, missing mortgage payments or losing health insurance, I would absolutely argue it's not just their problem. You can certainly hold the opinion that "it's just business" but it feels like an unnecessary part of busine…

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the US employment model. Businesses can do all sorts of dumb things that end up making them unable to continue to invest in employees. The check against that is the greedy owners.

Regulations designed to ensure businesses never take risky bets lest they have to lay people off would be a nightmare of unintended consequences and surely in aggregate hurt employment.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#244

Post by nyeah »

triceratops wrote: post #237
fasteo wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> should-be-illegal process of putting debt on the acquired company's balance sheet This is a basically a leveraged buyout (LBO). All private equity works this way. Yes, it should be illegal, or at least heavily limited. I highly recommend this book: "Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America"

Is it still "private equity" if a public company takes a loan to buy another public company?

It's still an LBO, in effect borrowing against the target to get control of it.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#245

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

trillic wrote: post #185
doginasuit wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it still riding the meme stock wave or has GameStop made a turnaround?

Liquid Assets: May 2020: $570.3 million Jan 2026: $9.013 billion

Who would down vote this? It’s true.

Can people here really not keep their emotions in check enough to admit clearly obvious facts?

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#246

Post by jimz »

crispyambulance wrote: post #103
harvey9 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sneaker company that pivoted to data centers set the 'weird' bar pretty high. GameStop has physical stores so could be a place to send, collect from or even verify high value eBay items.

> ...sneaker company that pivoted to data centers set the 'weird' bar pretty high... "Weird" is the wrong word for Allbirds. "Fraud" is far more fitting. They obviously have no intention running an AI-datacenter business and are doing it for the stock-price rush. A small number of people will be laughing all the way to the bank, and everyone will forget Allbirds in short order. Ebay has a history of being legit, thou…

eBay currently allows (or at least tolerates) sales of items not in the possession of the seller and are effectively lottery tickets. Lotteries are illegal in my state (NV) but eBay does not restrict me from bidding. That's low hanging fruit right there.

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#247

Post by [deleted] »

getnormality wrote: post #212
pjc50 wrote: post #2

Important background: https://investor.gamestop.com/news-releases/news-details/202... CEO gets paid "only if GameStop achieves a market capitalization of $20 billion." Buying a $55bn company would certainly achieve that quickly. I'm not sure how they'd manage that (buy with what? Memes?), other than the should-be-illegal process of putting debt on the acquired company's balance sheet.

> the should-be-illegal process of putting debt on the acquired company's balance sheet. I agree it's weird but ultimately the check against dumb lending is natural consequences for the lender, right? If you ask me for billions in loans for your zero revenue company and I give it to you, whose problem is that but my own?

[deleted]

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#248

Post by andruby »

triceratops wrote: post #237
fasteo wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> should-be-illegal process of putting debt on the acquired company's balance sheet This is a basically a leveraged buyout (LBO). All private equity works this way. Yes, it should be illegal, or at least heavily limited. I highly recommend this book: "Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America"

Is it still "private equity" if a public company takes a loan to buy another public company?

OP is just saying that PE uses the same playbook, not that this move is "private equity".

Re: GameStop makes $55.5B takeover offer for eBay

#249

Post by threetonesun »

parrellel wrote: post #182
pfdietz wrote: post #124

Is this going to turn Gamestop stores into something like those "sell it on Ebay" stores?

No, its going to give the CEO and some shareholders a few billion and destroy eBay. Because we can't have nice things. I am so painfully sick of this.

eBay isn't doing itself any favors these days, the site seems to have issues on a regular basis and they're heavily promoting collectible/gambling garbage on the site. If anything eBay and GameStop seem perfect for each other.
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