GameStop Reportedly Searching for New CEO

GameStop's corporate shake-up continues, as a new report indicates the company is looking for a new CEO. Earlier today, Reuter reported that GameStop is searching for a new CEO to replace current CEO George Sherman. While GameStop declined to comment on the Reuter report, the company is reportedly working with a recruiting firm on the CEO search and are looking for potential candidates within the gaming industry, as well as in the e-commerce and technology industries. The reported change in leadership follows last week's announcement that Ryan Cohen, co-founder of the online pet food company Chewy, would be named the director of GameStop's board in June.

Sherman has been the CEO since April 2019 and has guided GameStop through the pandemic, keeping it afloat during a time when having brick-and-mortar locations was largely a money sink. However, Sherman's primary experience is in retail store chains and GameStop is pushing to become an omni-channel brand with a heavy focus on e-commerce. Several other high-level executives have left the company in recent weeks, replaced by former executives from companies like Amazon, or from Cohen's original comapny Chewy.

GameStop's stock has dipped about 11% since news of the shake-up occurred, creating yet another volatile day for the company's shares. GameStop's stock remains nearly 900% higher than it was at the beginning of the year, after it was chosen as the chief battleground in a spat between hedge funds and individual traders organized on Reddit. While hedge funds bet heavily that GameStop would continue to struggle and its price would go down, traders on the Reddit board WallStreetBets bought up GameStop stock en masse, creating a phenomenon known as a short squeeze. Although the price of GameStop's shares have somewhat stabilized, they are still trading for about $140 a share. Recently, GameStop announced that it would sell millions of shares to create capital and liquidity for its balance sheet, allowing it to hasten its transformation into an online retailer.