Ryan Cohen, co-founder of online pet food company Chewy and favorite of the chaos engine that is the WallStreetBets reddit, will take over as GameStop chairman following the company’s annual shareholder meeting in June.
CNBC reports that GameStop stock “shares jumped more than 4% in premarket trading” following the announcement. Ryan most recently sent the stock prices climbing when he inexplicably tweeted a picture of a McDonald’s ice cream cone back in February.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Cohen has a 12.9% stake in the company. Cohen was put in charge of GameStop’s Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation Committee in early March, which caused another surge in GameStop’s stock. That committee, and Cohen’s involvement with the company, are intended, in GameStop’s words, to “further accelerate the Company’s transformation,” presumably drawing on Cohen’s vast pet food sales knowledge to make the flailing brick-and-mortar Funko Pop seller relevant to gamers, beyond stock price memes. This “transformation” could reportedly include moving the company’s used game trade-in service online, making a bad thing worse, but who knows what he’ll do once he has complete control.
On the WallStreetBets reddit, users are largely excited the meeting takes place on 6/9 (get it), but also seem genuinely pumped about Cohen’s appointment. They seem especially keen on the idea that the chairman can fire the CEO.
GameStop also announced that, “Following the Annual Meeting, individual director compensation will be reduced approximately 28% from the prior year.” GameStop adds that after the meeting, directors “will be compensated 100% in equity;” Forbes reports that last year, most directors were paid over $140,000 in cash.