eBay US Fashion GM Garry Thaniel Quietly Exits Amid Depop Acquisition, GameStop Buyout Push
eBay's General Manager of US Fashion, Garry Thaniel, has quietly exited the company, leaving a leadership gap in a key category as Depop deal looms and GameStop buyout offer leaves future in limbo.
Thaniel joined eBay in 2021 as Global GM, Sneakers and Streetwear leading the company through the acquisition of Sneaker Con and building out the early Authenticity Guarantee experience.
He was then promoted to General Manager for the entire eBay Canada marketplace in 2023, where he took over for Robert Bigler who was promoted to CEO of then newly acquired subsidiary TCGPlayer.
Liz Morton
The GM Canada position has seen a lot of turnover in recent years, often acting as a stepping stone between other roles at the company.
Prior to Bigler, the role was held by, Andrea Stairs who has since been bounced around to several other positions at the company - including stints as VP Seller Community, and Chief Marketing Officer before finally settling into her current role as eBay's Chief Operating Officer.
Thaniel left the GM Canada role to move back to the US to lead the fashion category in 2025.
Liz Morton
That left leadership of eBay's Canadian operations in flux for almost a year with the position only recently filled in March 2026 by Ashley Lawrence, who previously held various leadership positions at eBay 2007-2021 as well as serving as CFO of Kijiji Canada, which was sold to Adevinta when eBay divested their classifieds business in 2021.
Liz Morton
But now it appears Thaniel is no longer with the company, though details of his departure are not yet clear.
His LinkedIn profile does not show any departing posts, it has simply been quietly updated to reflect his employment at eBay ended in May 2026.
That's particularly odd timing given everything eBay has riding on fashion being the next big focus category on the marketplace - including a $1.2B acquisition of Depop from Etsy which is now expected to close by end of Q3 2026, pending regulatory reviews in the UK and Australia.
Liz Morton
It's unclear if the company will be replacing Thaniel with an outside hire, promoting from within, or perhaps waiting to see what leadership talent comes over from Depop to pick the next person to lead US Fashion as eBay pivots into Live and consumer to consumer (C2C) selling.
And if the Depop acquisition wasn't already enough for the company to be juggling, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen shook things up even more this week with an unsolicited offer to buy eBay for $56 Billion.
Liz Morton
Cohen has taken the bid public in a big way, making a media splash with a contentious CNBC interview and calling out problems he sees in eBay's current operations and leadership across social media.
The people running eBay bought $0 of stock in the open market in the last 5 years.
— Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) May 6, 2026
eBay insiders sold more than $120M in the last 5 years.
In response to doubt that he has the funding lined up to pull off his ambition proposal, Cohen revealed he's selling some of his personal items on eBay to help fund the deal - promising a hand-signed copy of the offer letter with each purchase.
While Cohen's social posts are playing well with his loyal following of GameStop fans, eBay has been keeping responses tightlipped and close to the chest, with a press release acknowledging the offer and required SEC filings being the only official comment on the matter.
Given that tension, it was surprising to see Garry Thaniel engage with one of Cohen's posts this afternoon - responding positively to Cohen's use of the platform and saying that feedback from users is vital to continual improvement.
I like that you’re using the platform! A lot of people are critical of eBay without actually using eBay or not using in the last decade. Buyer seller feedback is vital to continual improvement.
— GT (@GarryThaniel) May 6, 2026
Whether Thaniel's departure was planned or sudden, the timing is notable - and so is the tweet.
Fashion remains one of eBay's most important strategic bets, and while Global VP Fashion Alexis Hoopes continues to oversee the category, the company now finds itself dealing with yet another leadership change at a moment when investors, sellers, and competitors are all watching closely.
eBay did not respond to request for comment about Thaniel's departure as of time of publishing.
