GameStop Used a 1980s Ghost to Bid $56B for eBay

eBay's board just rejected GameStop's $56 billion takeover today, calling it "neither credible nor attractive."

But the real story is buried in the financing. GameStop got a "highly confident letter" from TD Securities for $20 billion in debt. That instrument was invented in 1983 by Drexel Burnham Lambert -- Michael Milken's firm -- for Carl Icahn's raid on Phillips Petroleum. By 1988 it was bankrolling KKR's $25 billion takeover of RJR Nabisco. Drexel filed for bankruptcy 18 months later.

Michael Burry called the math "borderline distressed" and dumped his entire GameStop stake.

Is anyone else going to try this again?

-- Sources --
- CNBC (eBay rejection): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/12/ebay-rejects-gamestops-takeover-ryan-cohen.html
- Bloomberg (Drexel echo): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-04/gamestop-s-highly-confident-20-billion-td-letter-echoes-drexel
- Bloomberg (longshot rating): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-07/td-s-ebay-financing-assumes-gamestop-wins-longshot-credit-rating
- eBay press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ebay-rejects-unsolicited-proposal-from-gamestop-302769000.html
- CNBC (Burry sells): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/05/burry-sells-gamestop-after-cohens-ebay-bid-never-confuse-debt-for-creativity.html
- Fortune: https://fortune.com/2026/05/09/gamestop-ebay-stock-outlook-past-merger-disaster/

This is not financial advice. Always do your own research.

#Shorts #StockMarket #Finance #Investing #MarketUndercurrent

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