GameStop rejected, a troubling loan trend, and no to pre-IPO AI shares

Summary

The Indicator from Planet Money: GameStop Rejected, a Troubling Loan Trend, and No to Pre-IPO AI Shares

Date: May 15, 2026
Hosts: Waylon Wong, Darian Woods, Adrienne Ma

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Overview

This episode of The Indicator features the "Indicators of the Week," where hosts Waylon Wong, Darian Woods, and Adrienne Ma each pick a telling number from recent news to discuss. Topics center on GameStop's surprising (and failed) bid for eBay, rising personal loans used for daily expenses, and the risks of buying tokens representing pre-IPO shares of AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. The conversation takes a witty, conversational tone, weaving in economic insight with humor and pop-culture flair.

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GameStop’s Unlikely Bid for eBay

Key Indicator: $55.5 billion
Presenter: Waylon Wong
Timestamps: 02:20 – 05:39

• The News: GameStop made an unsolicited offer of $55.5 billion to acquire eBay, envisioning benefits from eBay’s physical locations. eBay, much larger in market cap, soundly rejected the offer.
• eBay’s Cold Rejection: Waylon likens eBay’s official response to spurning a suitor in a romance novel:
  • Quote: “We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive.” – eBay Board Statement, read by Waylon Wong [03:05]
• Market Reaction: GameStop’s financing was foggy:
  • It claimed $9 billion cash, potential $20 billion financing, and the rest in stock—still insufficient for $55.5B.
  • On CNBC, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen was pressed on math:
    • Quote: “I'm just trying to understand where the rest of the money would come from ... that math doesn't get you to the price that you're offering.” – Anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin [04:12]
    • Cohen’s response: “Just check the website.” (awkward silence)
    • Notable Moment: “There were many seconds of just dead air. It was incredibly awkward.” – Waylon Wong [04:37]
• Aftermath: GameStop stock dropped 10% after the interview. GameStop did acquire a 5% eBay stake, raising the possibility of a proxy battle.
• Humor:
  • “So in practical terms, I have about as much chance of acquiring eBay as GameStop does.” – Adrienne Ma [05:24]
  • Waylon retorts, “So you're saying there's a chance?” [05:31]

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Troubling Loan Trend: Personal Loans to Pay Bills

Key Indicator: 8.2%
Presenter: Adrienne Ma
Timestamps: 05:39 – 07:36

• The Trend: According to LendingTree, 8.2% of visitors seeking personal loans used the funds for day-to-day bills—food, gas, rent—almost 2.5 times higher than in 2023.
• Who’s Affected: Typically younger borrowers with poorer credit.
• Financial Cost: These loans can carry interest rates as high as 30% or more.
  • Quote: “It's a kind of particularly unappealing option because these rates can come with interest as high as 30% or more. Ouch.” – Adrienne Ma [06:30]
• Supporting Data: The NY Fed reports a rise in Americans’ credit card balances, mostly among financially struggling individuals.
• Warning: Rising inflation and stagnant wages could mean this trend gets worse.
  • Insight: “If that keeps going and wages don't keep up with inflation, we could see more people carrying bigger balances on their credit cards and more folks who are taking out personal loans just to cover everyday bills.” – Adrienne Ma [07:16]

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AI Pre-IPO Tokens: Risk and Reality

Key Indicator: 40% drop
Presenter: Darian Woods
Timestamps: 07:36 – 10:08

• The Gist: Tokens claiming to represent shares in Anthropic and OpenAI plummeted 40% in value after both companies announced that unapproved transfers of stock are invalid.
• What Happened:
  • Private investors and the public tried to get a piece of the AI boom via third-party blockchain tokens.
  • “Everyday people trying to invest ... sneakily.” – Darian Woods [07:57]
• Company Clampdown: Both Anthropic and OpenAI clarified that any “interest in anthropic stock that has not been approved by our board of directors is [void] and will not be recognized on our books and records.” [09:24]
• Implication: People who bought these tokens might have purchased nothing, leaving their money at risk.
  • Quote: "Those people's money maybe just evaporated. Like they bought this token. The money changed hands. The token doesn't represent anything." – Waylon Wong [09:36]
  • Darian Woods: "It went down 40% at least." [09:45]
• Takeaway: Buyer beware—not only are such schemes at risk of being voided, outright scams exist without connection to the companies.
  • Sound Advice: “You have been warned.” – Waylon Wong [10:08]
  • A final joke: “Buy shares in GameStop instead. Just kidding. This still is not investment advice.” – Waylon Wong [10:10]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• eBay’s elegant rejection (03:05):

  “We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive.” – eBay Board, read by Waylon Wong

• GameStop’s awkward math moment (04:12):

  “I'm just trying to understand where the rest of the money would come from ... that math doesn't get you to the price that you're offering.” – Andrew Ross Sorkin “Just check the website.” – Ryan Cohen

• Loan rates sting (06:30):

  “These rates can come with interest as high as 30% or more. Ouch.” – Adrienne Ma

• Pre-IPO token risk (09:36):

  “Those people's money maybe just evaporated.” – Waylon Wong

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Important Segments (Timestamps)

• 02:20 – GameStop’s $55.5B eBay offer breakdown
• 05:39 – Trend of personal loans for daily bills
• 07:36 – AI share tokens drop, scam warnings

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Conclusion & Tone

This episode blends economic news with sharp observation and dry wit—making clear the absurdity of GameStop’s bid, the stress behind rising personal loans, and the perils of unofficial AI investments. It’s a brisk, informative episode with practical warnings for listeners: skepticism (and sound math) are ever more important in today’s economy.

Transcript

[A]

Npr. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong.

[B]

I'm Darian Woods.

[C]

And I'm Adrienne Ma.

[A]

And if all three of us are gathered here today, it can only mean one thing. Or maybe it means three things in fact. Indicators.

[C]

Indicators of the week.

[A]

Week.

[C]

Week.

[B]

It is day of the week when we talk about our favorite numbers from the news. And on today's episode, we're Talking about

[A]

the GameStop and eBay romance that never was.

[C]

People taking out personal loans just to pay the bills.

[B]

And no, you cannot invest directly in OpenAI and anthropic before they've gone public. Don't do that.

[D]

This message comes from Grainger. This is the story of the 1. As a procurement manager for a hospital system, she keeps every facility in her network stocked and ready. That's why she counts on Grainger to be her single source for thousands of products, from disinfectants to lighting, air filters, and more. And with fast, dependable delivery, Grainger helps her keep every facility stocked, safe, and running smoothly. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grab Ranger for the ones who get it done. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people. Using money around the globe, you can send, spend and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get wise. Download the WISE app today or visit wise.com Ts and Cs apply.

[E]

This message comes from BetterHelp. May is mental health awareness month, a reminder that you don't have to do this life alone. From loneliness to anxiety to financial stress, Right now, people everywhere are struggling. But having a licensed therapist with you by video phone or chat can make a difference. And BetterHelp makes it easy. Sign up now and get 10% [e-mail] NPR that's betterhelp.com NPR

[B]

it's indicators of the week. Weyland Wong, you go first.

[A]

My indicator is $55.5 billion. That is what the company Gamestop offered to acquire ebay. It was an unsolicited offer. GameStop wanted to combine forces into a much bigger company. And it thought that, you know, there could be some benefits from ebay having physical locations. But this week, ebay rejected the offer. And I want to read from ebay statement because you guys know I love romance novel. And ebay's response sounds like what a lady in a historical romance would say to, like, a rake who wanted to marry her.

[C]

Okay, wait. Like ebay, the thing you clean up

[A]

leaves with no A rake is like a historical romance term for, like, an incorrigible man.

[C]

Okay, okay.

[A]

So eBay said to GameStop that its board, quote, has thoroughly reviewed your proposal and has determined to reject it. We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

No ambiguity there.

[A]

Yeah, no, they're like, hate it.

[C]

So eBay is a way bigger company than GameStop, right? I mean, does GameStop really have any shot at acquiring ebay?

[A]

You're right. If you compare their market caps, eBay is around five times larger than GameStop. And so there was a lot of head scratching around this deal when GameStop announced it, because GameStop was like, okay, we have 9 billion doll in cash, and then there's this bank that might give us another $20 billion in financing, although that's not finalized. And then even if you threw in all of GameStop's market cap, it actually would not be enough to get you anywhere near the 55.5 billion. So GameStop GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen went on CNBC and the anchor, Andrew Rasorkin asked him about this math, and this happened.

[C]

I'm just trying to understand where the rest of the money would come from. It's half cash, half stock. I hear you. I'm just saying that that math doesn't

[B]

get you to the.

[C]

To the price that you're offering.

[B]

Well, there's nothing like math to really, you know, hold people account.

[A]

No, there were many seconds of just dead air. It was incredibly awkward. And then finally he's like, just check the website. Which was not a very helpful response either.

[B]

So arithmetic gets you every time.

[A]

You know what else gets you every time is a really awkward appearance on CNBC because GameStop's stock went down 10% after that happened. And then. Yeah, and then eBay ended up rejecting the offer.

[B]

All right, so what's next?

[A]

Well, Ryan Cohen says GameStop already has a 5% stake in eBay, so there could be some kind of proxy battle. This. Is this a kind of situation where an activist shareholder tries to take control of a company? Those things are notoriously long and complicated, and so we'll see. But this has already been a very entertaining corporate story to watch.

[C]

So in practical terms, I have about as much a chance of acquiring eBay as GameStop does.

[A]

So you're saying there's a chance? Yeah. Yeah. I'll see you on CNBC. Adrian, you can explain where you got $56 billion.

[C]

Okay, yeah. Speaking of needing CA, my indicator of the week comes from a couple of reports that actually spotlight a slightly troubling trend. So my indicator comes from new data from LendingTree, this website where people can go if they want to get a loan and compare offers from different lenders. So LendingTree puts out new data this week that says among people who use its website to find personal loans, 8.2% of them say they're using the money to pay for everyday bills. And this is nearly two and a half times the rate it was back in 2023.

[A]

So this is not someone who is taking out a personal loan for a huge unexpected expense or an emergency or a big project or something. It's just day to day stuff that they're having trouble paying for.

[C]

Exactly. It could be, you know, stuff like food or gas or rent. And LendingTree says that the people who tend to take out these personal loans are younger, they have poorer credit, and it's a kind of particularly unappealing option because these rates can come with interest as high as 30% or more. Ouch.

[A]

Oof.

[C]

Yeah. Also what I thought was an interesting data point to pair with this LendingTree data was a report out this week by the New York Federal Reserve which showed Americans are carrying greater credit card balances over the past couple of years. And most of that increase is actually among people who feel like they're just getting by or struggling financially. You know what these reports are making me think about is we saw inflation start to kick up last month. And if that keeps going and wages don't keep up with inflation, we could see more of this. We could see more people carrying bigger balances on their credit cards and more folks who are taking out personal loans just to cover everyday bills. So I think definitely something to keep an eye on. Darian, bring us home.

[B]

My indicator is a 40% drop. That's roughly how much the tokens that claim they represent. Shares in the AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI plunged this week. The crash was because Anthropic and OpenAI announced that any unapproved transfers of its stock are invalid.

[A]

Wait, so what were these tokens representing then?

[B]

So this is all about everyday people trying to invest in Anthropic or OpenAI and finding ways to try to sneakily. The companies are saying that if you did it with some third party, then your investment could be zapped.

[A]

Uh oh. So people were thinking they got in on the ground level and that did not happen.

[B]

Yeah. These are private companies, OpenAI and Anthropic. There is no public shares that you can buy, so they're not listed on the S&P 500. They're not listed on NASDAQ, you cannot buy shares in them.

[C]

But that doesn't mean people will not try to buy shares. Right. Like, why should private investors and venture capitalists make all the money from the AI boom?

[B]

Yeah. People are so desperate for a slice of these AI companies that there's been a range of creative solutions. So one way is just to invest in a company that does have a lot invested in these private companies. So SoftBank is one. It's invested tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI. And to be clear, OpenAI is not saying you cannot buy SoftBank shares, but there are other dodgier ways of trying to get access to these private companies shares.

[A]

Oh, like, like what? What kind of schemes are we talking about?

[B]

So there are entities that claim to have invested in private AI companies and some of them sell tokens on the blockchain. Basically, I buy one anthropic pre stock token and the entity claims that this will represent a share in Anthropic that they've privately bought. But then this week, Anthropic updated its investor webpage to say, quote, any interest in anthropic stock that has not been approved by our board of directors is V and will not be recognized on our books and records.

[A]

Ooh, so those people's money maybe just evaporated. Like they bought this token. The money changed hands. The token doesn't represent anything.

[B]

It went down 40% at least.

[A]

Oh, okay, okay.

[B]

Completely. I mean, who knows what will actually happen? Whether Anthropic and OpenAI will actually enforce this. It gets quite complicated. But it is certainly a warning and also a reminder that there are actually scams out there that don't even have investments in these companies. So buyer beware.

[A]

You have been warned. Buy shares in GameStop instead. Just kidding. This still is not investment advice.

[B]

This episode was produced by Angel Carreras with engineering by Meg Luthor. It was fact checked by Corey Bridges and Julia Ritchie. Cake and Cannon edits the show and the indicator is a production of NPR.

[D]

This message comes from Insperity providing HR services and technology from payroll benefits and HR compliance to talent development. Learn more at insperity.com hrmatters.

[E]

This message comes from EasyCater, making it easy for organizations to order food for meetings and events from favorite restaurants, set up meal programs for their employees and manage food spend all in one place at easycator. Com.