The GameStop stock market drama from the beginning of the year certainly had its share of dramatic ups and equally dramatic downs, but it's fair to say that prospects for the video game retailer have been gloomy for several years now. The rise in digital purchases and alternative online retailers over the past decade has made things increasingly tough for brick-and-mortar stores, and the events of the past year have compounded problems considerably.
It might come as a surprise, then, to see that Gamestop Corp's CEO, George Sherman, will be stepping down this summer with a goodbye package currently worth $179 million. As reported by Reuters, his departure — which was first reported on Monday — will see him step down from the role by 31st July after becoming CEO in April 2019.
Companies tend to link payouts of this nature to performance, although GameStop reportedly altered their approach last year and instead gave Sherman stock options which, at the time, were worth significantly less than they are right now. Indeed, he 'forfeited' 587,000 shares just last week due to missing performance targets, although he remains eligible for this sizeable payout thanks to GameStop offering shares based on tenure rather than performance. In fact, the Reuters report states that the company is expediting his departure to ensure the windfall "as a condition of his exit".
Sherman's not the only one leaving the company this summer — ex-Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime might have parachuted onto the retailer's board of directors last year, but it seems he'll be hot-footing it off the board come June, too. Given global events, it probably wasn't the best timing for new management, but we can't imagine Reggie will be pocketing such a substantial 'gift' on his departure.
[source reuters.com]
Comments 44
It's only a matter of time until GameStop itself says goodbye, it's becoming obscure and dated at this point. Not to mention their terrible policies.
What can I say, this is disgusting.
Just imagine how many medical bills of low-income families could be payed with this amount of money
wait they are loosing money left right and centre and pay him off that amount. wow failure really gets rewarded
This might be me being a bit of a dumb dumb, but if I read the article correctly, this exiting-CEO's goodbye package is stock-based, so is it as high as it is due to the stocks being significantly higher than a few months ago because of the meme-buying of stocks earlier this year?
Well that will be worth very little in a decade, so he'll have to sell it all pretty much immediately
That is the most disgusting yet incredible trade-in value I have ever seen!
Two things ...
The guy essentially bet on himself, saying he would take compensation in stock, rather than pay. So if the stock plummeted, he would have been out a good chunk of money, though he certainly drew a good base salary.
The Reuters article suggests that the board wanted him out and used the current stock price as leverage to get him out now. Problem is, that will make it near-impossible to attract a cost-efficient new CEO. Who would accept GameStop stock as compensation now? It has nowhere to go but down.
Perhaps if they had listened more to the consumers a long time ago, they would never be in this situation. Unfortunate, as Game Stop was part of my late childhood/early teenage.
This guy is a paper hands if I've ever seen one! This rocket's going to the moon any day now and he's getting cold feet.
With that much money, you could support so many people across the world during the pandemic.
Don't we all love capitalism.
Some day, I would love to be in a position where my employer hands me a big pile of money to walk away.
say it with me now: noooobooody needs several million dollaaaarrrssss
Compared to the Bezos Amazon Empire, GameStop is the little guy. If prices are comparable, I’ll choose GameStop over Amazon and Walmart.
I just got used copies of The Outer Worlds and Journey to the Savage Planet for a total of just under $50 from GameStop.
The little man figures out how to get ahead, there’s an outcry, it’s put to a stop. A CEO, who’s not worth his weight in gold cuff links, makes a killing. There’s another kind of outcry. The feckless kind. We move on. So goes the cycle of life. sighs
It's a slowly sinking ship,they all seem to be cashing out before inevitable closure
This assclown did nothing for the company's performance, and yet he and his ilk fail upwards in life, taking nearly $200M from a company already in a precarious financial position.
A regular employee would be fired with nothing. He's rewarded for his failure. Capitalism has more holes in it than Swiss cheese 🧀.
We don't live in a meritocracy, folks.
They could've turned it around in the past few years, but they didn't, and are now suffering the consequences. My local Gamestop closed down last year. I hope either they somehow do a fast turn around, or die quickly, its just a sinking ship at this point.
I'm not a fan of GameStop's corporate, nor some of their policies. However, most of the employees at my local branch are decent people who are knowledgeable and aren't nearly as pushy about memberships and other issues that I've seen brought up online. The fact that the CEO is getting a payout like this when the company is 1. Struggling and 2. Full of employees who won't see even a fraction of that amount in their lifetimes disgusts me.
I know people like to rag on the company, sometimes rightfully so, but there are increasingly fewer brick and mortar game spaces these days. Especially where I live. If GameStop goes out, my only other option within reasonable driving distance is shudders Walmart.
Someone gave me a GS voucher recently as a present. Better use it quick before they go under and it's worth nothing.
@NikHogan Gamestop being gone is actually a bad thing, despite all it's practices. It's one of the remaining places in the US that actively has a massive selection of games on it's shelves of games from different console generations. Walmart, Target, and similar stores don't even come close to the kind of selection Gamestop has on the whole. Hell. No retailer I know of right now does.
Them going the way of the dinosaurs, no matter what anyone says, it a net loss.
I'm always confused, should I hate corporations for stuff like this or "like" them for their incessant virtue signaling? Question, why do the shareholders allow for stuff like this?
@MegaVel91 oh i definitely agree!! I love the store itself but the company is shady as all hell
a new competitor would be refreshing, one that sells classic and new games
This is beyond disgusting. Sick, repulsive and vile. That amount of money is more than most people will see in a lifetime of honest, respectable hard work.
There is nothing that any one person can do that can justify this. The only reason people get this kind of money is the warped, twisted and massively corrupt society we live in.
Either GameStop should be shut down, or it needs a rebranding, because *Game*Stop is a lie. I'd rather call it GeekShop, because while they sell games, merchandise is usually the first thing you notice.
@NikHogan As much as you want it to, Funcoland ain't coming back, and that just means we'd have to buy from scalpers more, unless we see a Union of Mom and Pop Game Stores become Official sellers of all new stuff.
And then he'll just move on to the next company to leech money. CEO is a fake job position and it's completely disgusting that this is legal. The major flaw of capitalism.
Ima laugh if the stonks all get out and the stock dives.
Only in Western business can you fail upwards in such grand fashion. It must be a dream. Choose to be born to the right parents who can set you up with the right path, to know the right people, so you can land into jobs that pay 6-7 figures to do a job that requires being present, but success is guaranteed to not happen anyway, and then make a cool 9 figures for the simple act of leaving it.
Can anyone give me pointers on how to make a ton of money failing every day and then get 10 lifetimes of money to quit? And, no, I'm not on the ballot.
He should really send everyone on r/wallstreetbets, a Thank You card.
He can afford it.
i will always love Gamestop because Walmart, Target, Best Buy & Amazon don't have pre-owned games like that
“Stick it... stock it to man!”
“Wait, this guy gets money too?”
The only people to blame here are the ones who drove up the stock price.
@ekwcll Right! If you want to trade in games, sell them on eBay. It is a sellers market there.
GameStop just wasn't worthy enough to keep Reggie's interest any longer. That's it for Reggie x GameStop, he's gotta get back home to play more Animal Crossing: New Horizons on his Nintendo Switch.
well, at least by taking that much money with him he's helping speed up game stops inevitable demise.
then you got reggie who essential jumped on a sinking ship, proved himself to be better than anyone on it while getting paid for it and jumped off.
They should give him store credit.
Remember that CEOs like this NEVER earn the money they make. Without all the hard work of their very low paid employees their companies wouldn't make a dime. Hearing this makes me never want to spend a dollar at another GameStop and I honestly hope they fold soon. This is disgusting and the reason why so many people are sick of the rich class whining about anything as they get so much money for essentially doing nothing but dragging a company to the ground, then leaving with a huge bonus. My company is doing amazing this year and we still got our bonuses cut and pay raises. But our CEO got a stock bonus. ***** captialism.
I want money, how do I get this much money, I will do anything! Then I can retire and be free xx
@PSoneboi You and everyone else who are calling for GameStop to go under are being incredibly short-sighted. Even when they sell merch as said earlier, GameStop is the only national chain in the US that currently specializes in selling games, including the newest releases. As I said before, GameStop going under would leave a big gaping hole in the VG market as far as physical is concerned.
Unless Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and similar store chains start picking up the slack and do as Gamestop does by having a massive selection of old and new games, or some other store comes in to take their niche with better policies, then losing Gamestop is a net loss for everyone, no matter how terrible their policies are.
Call me a bootlicker if you like, I'm calling this as I see it: the death of Gamestop will be the death of the most significant part of physical retail for games. Not even Amazon can completely replace GameStop, and they are by a large a worse company for entirely different reasons.
@MegaVel91 I well understand their role, but they also bear responsibility to their employees. I have many friends that I have rescued away from them. From only getting 10 hours a week, to store managers barely making $13/hr, if they can't do better then we shouldn't be championing their existence just because of video games. Your hobby shouldn't be at the expense of others. Anyone you see working at a store is vastly underpaid, likely has other jobs, and is generally treated like crap. I have known 3 different regional managers and can assure you is it very common. If you want to help them out then by all means give them your money. I haven't in years and will continue not to do so because I they don't deserve it. And as for physical games, who cares. For years now your physical games haven't even been the full copy, those days are mostly gone. From patches to DLC, etc the game you own isn't the full game. And the vast amount of waste it takes to print the materials to produce them as most will end up in landfills only adds to the issue. I've been all digital for nearly a decade now and have yet to be disappointed with it. I don't plan on being buried with my games so I don't need a reminder in physical form that they exist. We have a choice to make, and this is mine. I respect yours and wouldn't come after you for it as that isn't right, you have the freedom to choose whichever you like. But make no mistake, physical games will not be here much longer and neither will GameStop.
@PSoneboi Then feel free to be beholden to companies and lose your games when they deem them no longer profitable. That's the future you are heading toward. Losing access to the thing you paid for without your consent. It's like buying a computer that the manufacturer comes and takes away and then has you pay a premium to buy the new thing even when the one you have is still perfectly fine.
Some of us want to be able to continue playing our games even after the digital stores close down or the consoles can't call back to the servers. Some of us want to enjoy some of these games for years after the fact, even after said console has ceased being on store shelves. See the Super Nintendo, N64, PS1 and others. Yes, physical media will eventually deteriorate, but if my console still works and the cart or disc still work, I can still play them whenever if I so desire.
As for not being "full games". Let me tell you something. Even if DLC is stuff that was picked up off the cutting room floor, if the game has a beginning and an ending that doesn't require add-ons that you have to pay for, then that is a full game. It's no different than if you were playing a game off a cart without knowing any passwords (if the game in question even has that feature). DLC wasn't even a widespread thing until the beginning of the 2010s for god's sake. You literally have to ignore the fact that a game stands on it's own without the DLC to even make that argument and I therefore consider it invalid.
@MegaVel91 Thanks I will, games aren’t that important and I rarely go back and play old games. To each their own but I won’t back GameStop, period.
Yet...Reggie might be profiting. Its ok to say it.
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