GameStop Names Activist Investor Ryan Cohen Chairman and CEO

Takeaways

GameStop has named executive chairman and activist investor Ryan Cohen as president and CEO.
Cohen's venture capital firm is the company's largest stakeholder, and Ryan became executive chairman as part of a restructuring that included layoffs. former CEO Matthew Furlong.
Cohen's involvement in GameStop is credited with contributing to the events that led the company to become part of the meme stock market frenzy of 2021.

Video game retailer GameStop (GME) named executive chairman and CEO ;activist investor Ryan Cohen as president and CEO, effective immediately.

Cohen, who founded the online retailer Chewy pet supplies (CHWY), first took a stake in GameStop in 2020 and became a director in 2021. He became executive chairman during a company restructuring in June, when former CEO Matthew Furlong was fired. . The position has been vacant since.

Cohen's venture capital firm, RC Ventures, is the largest investor in GameStop, owning 12.1% of the capital. In a brief statement, the company said he would not receive any compensation for his work as CEO, chairman and president.

GameStop has struggled as video game customers have shifted away from shopping in physical stores and toward online gaming. Earlier this month, the company reported a smaller-than-expected loss due to a surge in digital sales, a move pushed by Cohen.

Cohen's involvement in GameStop is credited with contributing to the events that led the company to become part of the stock market frenzy of early 2021. Shares of GameStop reached an all-time high in January 2021 when he joined the company's board of directors, then plunged nearly 90% before rebounding. Stocks fluctuated until November of that year, then began a long, steady decline with a few highs before hitting a more than two-year low earlier this year.

After having first jumped by following the news On Thursday, shares of GameStop turned negative and were down 2.5% as of midday ET.