GameStop names Ryan Cohen as CEO — will take no salary
The drama continues at GameStop Corp.
The video game and electronics retailer retailer said its board has elected Ryan Cohen as president, CEO and chairman, effective immediately. The billionaire activist, who holds an approximate 12% stake in GameStop, will relinquish the title of executive chairman, a role he was given following the abrupt ouster of former CEO Matt Furlong in June. (The vote was unanimous with Cohen abstaining, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.)
Cohen will not receive compensation for serving as CEO, president and chairman, the company said in the filing, and he will “continue to engage in various business activities and pursuits outside of the company.” He will also take over the role of principal executive officer from Mark Robinson, who was named principal executive officer and general manager in June. Robinson will stay as GameStop's general counsel and secretary.
Industry experts said that Cohen’s election as chief executive, a move that was not unexpected, gives him more firepower to lead a turnaround of the long-struggling retailer.
Cohen, who co-founded Chewy and sold it to PetSmart for $3.35 billion in 2017, took a stake in GameStop in 2020. In January 2021, he and two other former Chewy executives were named to the company's board as part of an agreement with management and as Reddit traders sent its stock soaring more than 1,500%. (Dumb Money, a movie about the GameStop's meme stock surge, is currently playing in movie theatres.)
In April 2021, he was named chairman. Cohen's investment firm, RC Ventures, currently has an 12.09% stake in GameStop.
For its most recent quarter, ended July 29, GameStop cut its loss to $2.8 million from a loss of $108.7 million in the year-ago period. Net sales inched up to $1.164 billion, compared to $1.136 billion in the prior year.
The company has seen several executive departures in recent years. Most recently, in July, Diana Saadeh-Jajeh resigned as CFO after about a year in the role. She was the third person to serve in the role in the last two years.