A GameStop Store can be seen in the Jackson Heights area of New York, New York, USA January 27, 2021. Photo taken on January 27, 2021. REUTERS / Nick Zieminski / File Photo
GameStop Corp (GME.N)’s George Sherman is stepping down as CEO in the biggest uproar at the video game retailer, while trying to reject his brick-and-mortar image and adopt an e-commerce model.
Shares of the video game retailer, which was at the heart of a Reddit trade rush, rose 7% in pre-trading on Monday after the company said Sherman would resign on or before July 31 and that he began looking for a successor.
Reuters reported earlier that GameStop’s board was working with a chief executive hunter on the chief executive’s search, and that the directors were talking to potential candidates from the gambling, e-commerce and technology sector.
The latest development comes when Ryan Cohen, co-founder and former CEO of online pet food company Chewy Inc (CHWY.N), tried to increase his grip on GameStop after joining the board in January.
Former chief financial officer Jim Bell and former chief operating officer Frank Hamlin are among the senior executives who have left the company in recent weeks.
GameStop is transforming itself into an e-commerce company that can compete with large-scale retailers such as Walmart Inc. (WMT.N), as well as technology companies Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Sony Corp (6758) .T).
Separately, Bloomberg News reported that the man known as ‘Roaring Kitty’ on social media, whose online posts helped fuel January’s trading frenzy in GameStop, exercised the call options on the stock to sell another 50,000 shares at a strike price of $ 12 available. read more
GameStop also increased the value of new shares it can sell earlier this month from $ 100 million to $ 1 billion, as it will increase its shares in January from the rise in retail. read more
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