Have you ever heard of a CEO who won’t be compensated for their nitty-gritty hours at work veering the company ship towards success? Well, that is mighty the case with GameStop’s new CEO announcement. Ryan Cohen is GameStop’s new CEO and president, just like the turnstile of CEOs at the video games retailer.
Cohen, who joined the Board of Directors in January 2021, was previously an investor in GameStop in 2020 and will not receive any compensation for this position.
Under Cohen’s Leadership: Ryan Cohen’s Plan For GameStop
Ryan Cohen has a net worth of $3.2 billion and was ranked as the 918th richest person globally as of Thursday. In 2022, he made a $70 million profit by buying and selling Bed Bath & Beyond stock and also owns approximately 3 million shares in the embattled Chinese tech firm Alibaba.
Ryan Cohen’s professional background includes founding and serving as CEO of Chewy, a pet store retailer, since 2011 and selling it to PetSmart for $3.4 billion in 2017. He is also an activist investor. GameStop’s new CEO announcement follows after the video game giant reported a 2 percent increase in net sales for the second quarter.
Under Ryan Cohen’s leadership, GameStop discontinued the company’s support for cryptocurrency wallets, marking a reversal from their previous plans to establish an NFT marketplace.
A CNBC report suggested that Cohen’s investment in GameStop led to a short squeeze on GameStop’s stock price, resulting in a record-high share price.
This move marks the third change in CEO leadership at GameStop in the past two years. GameStop has also seen turnover in its CFO position since 2019. Before Cohen’s CEO appointment, GameStop had terminated CEO Matt Furlong in June, and the following month, CFO Diana Saadeh-Jajeh announced her resignation. The company had only named an interim principal financial officer to replace her.
GameStop’s Stock Price After Ryan Cohen’s CEO Announcement
GameStop has faced challenges since the mid-2010s due to the rise of online gaming and sales, which have overshadowed traditional brick-and-mortar video game retail. The gaming company was also targeted as a meme stock in January 2021.
Many notable decisions as part of GameStop’s survival strategy were made by Cohen. Investors are looking to Ryan Cohen’s GameStop plan of modernization as a potential solution to turn the company around.
GameStop’s stock price saw a nearly 3 percent spike following the announcement of Cohen’s appointment. The company gained significant attention in 2021 when Reddit traders orchestrated a massive surge in its stock price, causing it to increase over 1500 percent. This movement forced short-sellers to close their positions at significant losses.
However, GameStop’s stock price has since retreated, currently trading at around $17.50, although it remains higher than late 2020 levels when it was typically below $5.
