GameStop (NYSE:GME) rallied on Monday after the brick-and-mortar video game retailer announced its succession plan as it seeks to pivot to e-commerce following a historic Reddit-fueled short squeeze earlier this year.
The company said Monday CEO George Sherman will be stepping down on July 31 or earlier upon the appointment of a successor. The board is leading a search to identify CEO candidates with the capabilities and experience to help accelerate the next phase of the company’s transformation, GameStop said in a statement.
While GameStop shares have come way off its record high of $483 in January, the stock is still up a whopping 720% for 2021. To take advantage of the massive rally, GameStop announced a $1 billion stock sale at the beginning of April to accelerate its e-commerce transition led by activist investor and board member Ryan Cohen, who is Chewy’s co-founder.
The company also hired former Amazon and Google executive Jenna Owens as its new chief operating officer.
Some investors also took comfort in Keith Gill’s move Friday to double down on his GameStop bet, forgoing millions of dollars in quick profit on an options trade. Gill is perhaps the biggest influencer in the Reddit retail trading crowd.
On top of exercising these options contracts, Gill bought 50,000 more GameStop shares, bringing his total investment to 200,000 shares worth more than $30 million.
GME shares vaulted $12.62, or 8.2%, to $167.31.
