GameStop (GME) announced on Wednesday that the company’s board approved a new long-term, performance-based stock option award for CEO Ryan Cohen that provides no guaranteed compensation and pays out only if the company hits aggressive market value and profit targets. The grant covers options on 171,537,327 GameStop Class A shares at an exercise price of $20.66 per share, split into nine tranches that vest solely upon achieving targets for market capitalization and cumulative performance EBITDA over the term of the award.
The milestones begin at a $20 billion market cap and $2 billion of cumulative performance EBITDA and scale up in 10% increments of the total award, with full vesting requiring GameStop to reach a $100 billion market cap and $10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA, which directly links Cohen’s potentially lush payout to substantial long-term value creation for shareholders. GameStop’s (GME) current market cap is $9.3 billion.
The company highlighted Cohen’s role in improving GameStop’s (GME) balance sheet and operations since joining the board in 2021 and called the package an “at-risk” incentive to drive further transformation rather than a traditional salary, bonus, or time-vested equity. The award was approved by the board after consultation with an external compensation advisor. Shareholders will still need to approve the stock option award at a special meeting expected in March or April 2026, where Cohen will also abstain from the voting.
Ryan Cohen is known for co-founding online pet retailer Chewy (CHWY) in 2011 and scaling it to multibillion-dollar revenue before its $3.35 billion sale to PetSmart in 2017. He later launched RC Ventures, taking influential stakes in struggling retailers, most prominently GameStop. Cohen joined GameStop’s (GME) board in 2021, became chairman the same year, and was appointed its president and CEO in 2023.
Shares of GameStop (GME) rose 3.9% in premarket trading to $21.47.