Ryan Cohen tells us why he's serious about buying eBay and what he thinks about his viral CNBC interview

""I'm going to continue doing whatever I need to do in order to buy the business," the GameStop CEO told Business Insider in a phone interview on Friday. "I'm going to make myself CEO of both." Cohen surprised Wall Street earlier this week when he disclosed that GameStop had made an unsolicited bid of about $56 billion for eBay, which has a market value more than three times its size."

""I'm not sure whether their questions were sincere or not," said Cohen, adding that he laid out a clear explanation of how he would finance a deal for eBay. "I don't know what is so complicated for them to figure it out." A CNBC spokesperson said the "Squawk Box" interview "speaks for itself." Cohen, whose "half cash, half stock" mantra describing the financing quickly became a meme, said GameStop has about $9 billion in cash and that TD Bank had expressed confidence in placing roughly $20 billion in debt."

""What we're proposing is for existing shareholders to take half of their investment off the table, and that would be us providing them with $28 billion, which is like a 40% premium from when we started buying the stock," he told TBPN. "And then they would be getting roughly I mean it depends on ultimately when the transaction closes but they would be rolling the rest into the combined compa"

Ryan Cohen says he never wanted to be CEO of GameStop and instead aims to lead eBay. He claims GameStop made an unsolicited bid of about $56 billion for eBay and says he has a clear financing plan. He responds to doubts by stating he is not sure whether questions about affordability are sincere and says the deal structure is straightforward. Cohen says GameStop has about $9 billion in cash and that TD Bank expressed confidence in providing roughly $20 billion in debt, which he says would cover the cash portion. He also describes a proposal for existing shareholders to take half their investment off the table in exchange for $28 billion, with the remainder rolled into the combined company.

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