GameStop announced today that it’s terminated CEO Matthew Furlong and named board chairman Ryan Cohen executive chairman.
The announcement came during the company’s 2023 first quarter earnings, and GameStop didn’t hold a call to discuss those earnings. Furlong joined GameStop after eight years at Amazon about two years ago, while the former was at the center of its “meme stock” craze. Cohen, meanwhile, joined the GameStop board the same year, and his investment in the company – and its quick jump in stock – intensified the frenzy around its stock at the time.
In its SEC filing today, GameStop said Furlong was fired “without cause,” and didn’t name a replacement.
“Leadership transitions can be inherently difficult to manage,” the company said in the filing. ”And failure to timely or successfully implement transitions may cause disruption within the Company, including execution of our transformational plans. This may adversely impact our financial performance and ability to meet operational goals and strategic plans, our ability to retain and hire other key members of management, and the market price of our Class A common stock.”
Along with his involvement in GameStop, Cohen is best known for being the co-founder of Chewy, the popular online pet products retailer. He sold the company for $3.35 billion in 2017.
Cohen also seemed to comment on the news with a cryptic tweet today, writing “not for long” – and it’s worth noting that it’s not entirely uncommon for Cohen to tweet vague teases.
Not for long
— Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) June 7, 2023
The earnings themselves were lackluster ones, with GameStop posting a $50.5 million USD net revenue loss. While still much less dire than the losses last year, it’s still certainly disappointing after profitable results last February.
Thumbnail credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
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