Pedestrians pass a GameStop on 14th Street, Union Square, on Thursday, January 28, 2021, in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York.
John Minchillo | A?
GameStop announced on Thursday that Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen will become its chairman after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting, which is scheduled for June 9th.
The retailer’s shares increased by more than 4% in premarket trading, putting the shares on track to make a three-day loss. The shares have given up some of their high gains since the end of January, but are still up more than 870% this year, giving the company a market value of $ 12.8 billion.
Cohen invested in GameStop last year to push the video game retailer to focus on online sales and close unprofitable malls. His involvement with the company helped trigger the wild action of the stock earlier this year.
Cohen is also the manager of activist investor RC Ventures.
Kathy Vrabeck is currently the GameStop chair.
The transition is part of a larger administration that takes place at GameStop, while trying to return to business.
Recently, he brought in several executives from Amazon, Walmart, QVC and Chewy for top positions. Merchandising director Chris Homeister resigned from the business at the end of March. And in February, chief financial officer Jim Bell announced his resignation, while the company is looking for a successor with more experience in e-commerce.
GameStop said Thursday in a securities depository that other new board nominees include Larry Cheng, the first investor in Chewy, and Yang Xu, an executive at Kraft Heinz.
He also nominates current board members Alan Attal and CEO George Sherman.