Chewy Co-Founder Ryan Cohen Named CEO of GameStop

GameStop has named Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen as its president, CEO and chairman.

Cohen, who had been executive chairman at GameStop, relinquished that title when taking on the new roles, the video game retailer said in a Thursday (Sept. 28) filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The move is effective immediately, according to the filing. Cohen succeeds Mark H. Robinson as GameStop’s principal executive officer, with Robinson remaining as the company’s general counsel and secretary, per the filing.

Cohen, a billionaire investor and co-founder of pet supply retailer Chewy, joined the GameStop board in 2021 and has been instrumental in the company’s turnaround efforts, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday.

GameStop has been facing challenges in recent years due to changes in the gaming industry. The shift toward downloading games online and the rise of gaming on mobile devices have impacted the company’s sales.

To revive sales, Cohen has been working to expand GameStop’s eCommerce presence and explore new opportunities, such as launching a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the report said. However, these efforts have yet to yield significant results.

In 2021, shortly after Cohen joined the board, GameStop gained significant attention when small investors drove its shares almost 700% higher, per the report. The stock has since cooled off, dropping more than 50% in 2022 and dipping another 7% year-to-date.

In June, GameStop removed its then-CEO, Matthew Furlong, without cause and elected Cohen executive chairman, with Robinson being appointed as the company’s principal executive officer with the title of general manager.

“We believe the combination of these efforts to stabilize and optimize our core business and achieve sustained profitability while also focusing on capital allocation under Mr. Cohen’s leadership will further unlock long-term value creation for our stockholders,” GameStop said in a June filing with the SEC that announced those changes.

In another move, GameStop said in August that it would end support of its digital asset wallet on Nov. 1. The retailer attributed the change to “regulatory uncertainty of the crypto space.”

The company unveiled its digital asset wallet in May 2022, saying it would let gamers and others store, send, receive and use crypto and NFTs on several decentralized apps without leaving their web browsers.

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