GameStop to elect activist investor Cohen as chairman in e-commerce push
GameStop intends to elect activist investor Ryan Cohen as chairman, putting him at the helm as the company transforms from a bricks-and-mortar store to one with an e-commerce focus.
Since Chewy co-founder Cohen joined the video game retailer’s board in January, he has been pushing towards the transformation of the brick-and-mortar retailer into an e-commerce firm that can take on big-box retailers such as Target and technology firms such as Microsoft.
Markets appeared unbothered by the news of Cohen’s big role at the company, and by early evening the stock had fallen one per cent, continuing on a three-day losing streak.
Cohen will stand for election to its board at the annual meeting of stockholders on June 9.
The announcement comes after GameStop on earlier this week increased the value of the new stock it may sell to $1bn from $100m, as it seeks to capitalise on a surge in its shares from the Reddit-driven rally.
The GameStop stock has rampaged over 900 per cent higher since January in highly volatile trading as amateur investors organised on social media sites such as Reddit staged a stubborn buying spree, winning out over Wall Street hedge funds that had shorted its shares.