(Bloomberg) – GameStop Corp. has stepped down after announcing plans to elect Ryan Cohen as its next chairman, confirming the activist investor’s influence at the video game retailer.
Kurtis Wolf resigned on April 5, GameStop said in a submission Thursday. The company said the resignation was not the result of a disagreement over operations, policies or practices.
GameStop says Cohen will be eligible for election at the June 9 annual meeting. It is planned to pay all directors in full in equity, while reducing the remuneration of individual directors by approximately 28%.
GameStop shares traded 4.4% in New York to $ 185.88 before retreating. GameStop was on a three-day loss caused by a company’s plan to sell as much as $ 1 billion in additional shares. The stock had a wild, Reddit-driven ride, rising nine times this year.
Trading in GameStop, as with most stocks favoring traders using social platforms like Reddit, has faltered over the past three weeks as amateur investors shift their focus elsewhere. The stock has been hit with volatility since January, when Cohen began shifting operations at the company while retailers splashed among short sellers.
As part of a corporate overhaul that Cohen led, the company brought in new executives, including chief executives for growth and technology. This added technology experience to his team to help remove the business from its brick-and-mortar industry.
GameStop, located in the suburb of Dallas, Grapevine, Texas, has suffered a shift from the video game industry to online distribution. As players download more and more or order software and equipment online, there is less reason to go to a physical store. The company showed disappointing earnings last month.
In addition to Cohen as chairman, GameStop plans to appoint two new board members: Larry Cheng, managing partner of Volition Capital and the first investor in retailer Chewy for pets, where Cohen made a name for himself; and Yang Xu, senior vice president of global finance and treasury at Kraft Heinz Co.
Alan Attal and Jim Grube, Cohen allies who joined the board with him in January, and CEO George Sherman may also be reappointed.
(Shares updates in fourth paragraph.)
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