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George Sherman, the CEO of flagging video game retailer GameStop, is leaving the company after only two years, and will step down $170m richer thanks to efforts of Reddit investors.
Mr Sherman will step down from his position at the end of July. During his time, the company saw a loss of $700m and falling sales, largely caused by a growing preference for online retailers and digital purchases of video games. The mall isn’t what it used to be.
However, thanks to the GameStop short sale phenomenon earlier this year, Mr Sherman will depart the company with a lucrative payout.
Mr Sherman was hired in 2019, and despite reigning during the meme stock surge, was unable to meet performance quotas and as a result forfeited $98m worth of stock.
However, he has also been credited with navigating the company through the coronavirus pandemic when other brick and mortar retailers succumbed to the financial strain of lockdowns and fewer in-person customers.
Mr Sherman’s previously served as a top executive at other brick and mortar retailers including Advanced Auto Parts and Home Depot Inc.
The company has not announced who will take over the role once Mr Sherman steps down.
The CEO’s departure appears to align with the announcement earlier this month that Ryan Cohen, co-founder and former CEO of pet goods company Chewy Inc, will take over as GameStop’s chairman.
Other top executives at the company, including former CFO Jim Bell and former chief customer officer Frank Hamlin, also left the company in recent weeks.
While Mr Sherman will leave with a hefty sweetheart payout, the company’s employees will not share in its recent successes on the stock market as the company has been shuttering stores across the country.
In January, the stock skyrocketed from double digits into triple digits thanks to a campaign launched by Reddit investors who sought to counter short-sellers looking to profit on the struggling game retailer’s decline.
On Tuesday, the stock sat around $177, still soaring far above its double-digit price prior to the Reddit infusion.
The company cashed in on the recent success by selling off $551m worth of stocks to speed up the company’s transition into an e-commerce retailer.
Neither the company nor Mr Sherman have stated why he is leaving the company, but his separation agreement states that he was not leaving due to any “wrongdoing.”
The stock is currently up 891.3 per cent since the beginning of the year.
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