NEW YORK — GameStop's audacious $56 billion bid to acquire eBay appeared all but dead Wednesday after the online marketplace formally rejected the unsolicited offer, though CEO Ryan Cohen signaled he may not walk away quietly, leaving a narrow path for a prolonged proxy fight or sweetened proposal.

eBay's board delivered a blunt dismissal Tuesday, calling GameStop's non-binding proposal "neither credible nor attractive" in a strongly worded letter to Cohen. The rejection cited financing uncertainties, operational risks, leadership concerns and doubts about the combined company's long-term growth prospects.

The drama began May 3 when GameStop, led by activist investor-turned-CEO Cohen, proposed buying eBay at $125 per share — roughly half in cash and half in GameStop stock. The offer valued the larger e-commerce platform at about $55.5 billion and represented a significant premium to recent trading levels. GameStop had quietly built a roughly 5% stake in eBay beforehand.

Cohen framed the deal as a transformative opportunity to create a retail powerhouse combining eBay's global marketplace with GameStop's physical stores and collectibles expertise. He envisioned cost synergies, authentication services through GameStop locations and a stronger challenge to Amazon in secondhand and specialty goods.

Financing questions emerged immediately. GameStop planned to fund the cash portion with its roughly $9.4 billion in cash and investments plus up to $20 billion in debt financing backed by TD Securities. Analysts quickly........

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