eBay bans GameStop CEO’s account after he started listing store signs and old carpets to fund his $56 billion offer to buy the marketplace

Apparently every dollar counts in Game Stop’s $56 billion effort to acquire e Bay. Game Stop’s CEO, Ryan Cohen, already has a $20 billion financing commitment from TD Bank to put toward the acquisition, but questions remain about how the rest of the deal will be funded given Game Stop’s market cap is only about $11 billion. On Wednesday, Cohen said in a post on X he had come up with a creative way to fill the gap: “I’m selling stuff on e Bay to pay for e Bay.” If he sold all the merchandise listed on his seller page, which includes everything from baseball trading cards, video games, and other items, at the current top bids, Cohen would be able to collect more than $138,000, a minuscule fraction of the total $56 billion. Yet, less than 10 hours after Cohen’s initial X post, his account, ryan_5050 was suspended, according to a screenshot he posted on X. The trouble may have started just hours after his initial social media post. Cohen had listed a myriad of items for sale on the online marketplace site, including old GameStop signs, a GameStop mug, and even an old square of “GameStop carpet.” Meme stock devotees quickly bid up the price of all the items, including a pair of worn Adidas crew socks, which as of midday Thursday were going for about $14,188. Cohen also said each buyer would get a signed copy of the offer letter he sent to eBay’s board and free shipping, Bloomberg reported. Hours after his initial X post detailing his plans to purchase eBay, Cohen followed up with a screenshot of eBay giving him a warning: he had gone over eBay’s limit for posting items totaling more than $50,000 in a month. Just before midnight, he posted a follow up screenshot that said his account had been “permanently suspended because of activity that we believe was putting the eBay community at risk.” “On phone with customer support @eBay. please respond @eBay,” he wrote in a follow-up post. As of Thursday, Cohen’s account still appeared on eBay, though it’s unclea