GRAPEVINE, Texas, January 7, 2026, 09:30 CST
- GameStop granted CEO Ryan Cohen options to buy 171,537,327 shares at $20.66 each.
- Full vesting requires a $100 billion market cap and $10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA.
- Shareholders must approve the package at a special meeting expected in March or April.
GameStop on Wednesday granted CEO Ryan Cohen a performance-based stock option award that could be worth roughly $35 billion if he can lift the videogame retailer’s market value to $100 billion and meet profit targets, Reuters calculated. The package offers no guaranteed salary or cash bonus, the company said.
The unusually steep targets land as GameStop tries to prove it can outgrow a business built around physical stores while players shift to online buying. GameStop’s annual revenue has fallen more than 35% since 2022 and the stock is down about 80% from its 2021 highs, a Reuters report said.
The award gives Cohen options to buy 171,537,327 shares at $20.66 each, but only in nine tranches that vest if GameStop hits both market capitalization hurdles and “cumulative performance EBITDA,” a filing showed. EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a common measure of operating profit; GameStop set the top profitability bar at $10 billion. SEC
The first 10% tranche vests only at a $20 billion market cap and $2 billion in cumulative EBITDA, with targets stepping higher in $10 billion and $1 billion increments up to $80 billion and $8 billion; the last two tranches are 15% each at $90 billion and $9 billion, then $100 billion and $10 billion. GameStop said there is no partial credit between hurdles and no vesting at all if the minimum targets are not met.
GameStop put its market value at about $9.26 billion, meaning the $100 billion end-point would require roughly an 11-fold jump if the share count stays flat; even the first tranche needs more than a doubling. Shares rose more than 4% to $21.60 before the market open on Wednesday, AP reported.
GameStop pitched the structure as a pay-for-performance reset. “His compensation is entirely ‘at-risk,’” the company said, arguing the incentives align with long-term shareholder returns. AP News
In a separate release, GameStop also pointed to cost cuts and a swing to profitability during Cohen’s tenure, including a drop in selling, general and administrative expenses to $950.8 million over the most recent trailing four fiscal quarters from $1.7 billion in fiscal 2021. It said net income over those trailing four quarters was $421.8 million, compared with a $381.3 million net loss in fiscal 2021.
The plan borrows from Tesla’s playbook, with Reuters noting the structure resembles the incentive award for CEO Elon Musk, where stock options vest only if big valuation and operating goals are hit. Any rerating would also boost Cohen outside the award because he already owns about 8.3% of GameStop, the Reuters report said.
