We earlier reported that GameStop has made moves to take over eBay. The rather odd plan features a bill of at least $55.5 billion in a cash and stock deal. Keep in mind, GameStop’s market value is $12 billion while eBay’s is $46 billion. Beyond that, and the rather odd interviews, not great details in how it’d actually work, the drama has gotten stranger and stranger.

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen leaned into the “meme” nature of the franchise, launching a stunt to raise funds to take over eBay by… selling items on eBay. That move included signs, mugs, carpeting, and other rare items. But, 10 hours after Cohen announced the plan, the account was suspended by eBay.

Cohen was suspended due to “activity that we believe was putting the eBay community at risk.” Like GameStop’s stock had previously experienced, and Cohen thinks is a good thing, the stunt was picked up likely by the Meme stock devotees that previously drove up the stock price. In 2020, traders sent GameStop’s stock up more than 1,700% in weeks. But, for all the silliness, Cohen brought austerity to the company, closing stores and laying off about 4,500 employees since he became CEO in 2023. The market cap for the company increased to about $12 billion from $1.3 billion in 2021.

A pair of socks that was listed were at about $14,188 before the account was suspended. But, that did include a signed copy of the offer letter to eBay’s board. Cohen’s account went over eBay’s limit for posting items totally over $50,000 a month which gave Cohen a warning.

The account is currently live though with 36 items totaling around $157,000 in sales so far with about 4 days to go. You can get a GameStop Mug for the steal of a price of $3,151 or GameStop Mousepad for $1,525 with current bids. Once again eBay isn’t so much about actual value of things, but perceived value and at times, getting in as part of the trolling. Modern collecting summed up with one experience.

If the eBay auction to take over eBay doesn’t work, Cohen is also going a different route, going all David Ellison/Veruca Salt in that he really wants it.

Cohen spoke to Business Insider‘s Sarah E. Needleman and stated that one bit of motivation in his wanting eBay is that he’s just lost interest in his current job.

I did not want to be the CEO of GameStop. I want to be the CEO of eBay. I’m passionate about eBay. I believe in eBay’s business. I wasn’t passionate about GameStop. That’s the difference.

I know if I was a board or stock holder in a company, I’d feel perfectly comfortable that the CEO states they’ve lost passion about the company they currently lead.

Much like Salt and her wanting the Golden Goose, and Ellison and his wanting of Warner Bros. Discovery, Cohen has taken the lesson as don’t give up:

I’m going to continue doing whatever I need to do in order to buy the business. I’m going to make myself CEO of both.

Cohen’s interview doubles down in his plan to extract more profit from eBay by cutting fat but also attacks the company’s leadership saying they’re “milking it” and it’s “simply a paycheck for them,” as well as calling them too comfortable and undisciplined under its current leadership.