GameStop chief executive Ryan Cohen said on Tuesday he would forgo a potential $35 billion performance-based pay package as the video game retailer prepares to reveal further details of its proposed takeover of eBay.

GameStop said Cohen had declined the compensation plan so management could concentrate on improving the company's operating performance and advancing its pursuit of eBay. The US videogame retailer added that it will publish additional material this week setting out the strategic rationale and operational plans for a combined business.

The award package was unveiled in January, tying it to ambitious targets that would require the company to increase its market value by more than tenfold and significantly boost profitability. Cohen said he wanted leadership focused on "operating performance and the acquisition", according to the company's statement.

The proposed acquisition has attracted significant attention since GameStop launched an unsolicited bid worth about $56 billion in cash and stock in May. eBay's board rejected the approach, saying in a letter to Cohen that the offer was "neither credible nor attractive" after reviewing the company's prospects, concerns over financing and questions about the viability of a merged group.

GameStop offered $125 per eBay share, representing a 45 per cent premium to eBay's February 4 closing price. GameStop had indicated that US-based TD Bank would provide $20 billion in financing and that the retailer held around $9 billion in reserves, though questions remained about how the balance of the deal would be funded.

Cohen has signalled he intends to continue pursuing the target despite the rejection. Speaking to the Financial Times last week, he said: "The more [eBay] fights me, the more [...] I'm not going to take no for an answer. I'm not going away. I'm a pain in the ass."

Cohen, who joined GameStop's board in 2021 and became chief executive in 2023, has overseen a turnaround driven by extensive cost-cutting and store closures. Earlier this month, the company reported a 14 per cent rise in quarterly revenue to $835.3 million and approved a $2 billion share buyback programme, although investors remain uncertain about how a company valued at roughly $10 billion could acquire a business several times its size.

---