Ryan Cohen
CEO and Chairman of the GameStop Board of Directors
- Largest individual shareholder of GameStop since 2020
- Chairman of the board of directors since June 2021
- CEO of GameStop since September 2023
- Does not receive compensation
No fancy promises, no road shows, no pandering. Just a focus on efficiency, and long-term alignment with our owners the shareholders.
We're not going to call our shots in advance, for obvious reasons, but GameStop is following GameStop's strategy. We're not following anyone else's strategy.
We are focused on building shareholder value over the long term.
Ryan Cohen began buying shares of GME while GameStop was a struggling company, stating in an April 2019 email to Michael Burry that he was "a large holder of GameStop."
By August of 2020, Ryan Cohen became the largest individual shareholder of GME with an approximately 9% stake of the company at that time.
Negotiating with the then-board of directors, Ryan Cohen received board seats and eventually ascended to the position of chairman of the GameStop board of directors in June 2021. At that time, the board of directors was completely replaced by Ryan Cohen and other members who he had a working history with.
The company at that time was losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year and had a poor outlook.
In September 2023, Ryan Cohen became the CEO of the company, and the turnaround of the company was in progress.
As of fiscal year 2025 results, GameStop is operationally profitable, has the highest stockholders' equity in the history of the company, and had its most profitable year in the history of the company.
At GameStop, Ryan Cohen does not receive a salary, cash bonuses, or stock.
In January 2026, the board of directors announced a proposal for a long-term performance award for Ryan Cohen.
- The propsal is designed to incentivize extraordinary growth and performance of the company as well as long term commitment by Ryan Cohen
- The award is 100% “at-risk”: Cohen receives no guaranteed salary, cash bonuses, or time-vested stock — he only benefits if the company meets defined performance targets
- The award consists of the option to purchase up to 171M shares at an exercise price of $20.66 per share, structured in nine tranches that vest only if both market cap and profitability goals are achieved
- This proposal is subject to the approval of GameStop’s stockholders, who will be asked to approve it at the annual shareholder meeting
Through various interviews and public posts, Ryan Cohen expresses his business philosophy and view of Corporate America.
Ryan Cohen consistently expresses support for the alignment of interests between shareholders and corporate leaders — that directors and CEOs should share the risks with their shareholders by having a personal financial stake in the business.
In a February 18, 2026 polemic titled "The Hollow Men," Ryan Cohen criticizes the culture and behavior of modern Corporate America and urges a return of the "Owner's Mentality," where "leaders treat shareholder capital with the same reverence they treat their own savings."
Ryan Cohen built Chewy into the top online pet retailer, sold it for $3.35 billion in 2017.
Ryan Cohen - Wikipedia 
