Jan 7 (Reuters) - GameStop on Wednesday unveiled a compensation package worth roughly $35 billion for CEO Ryan Cohen, hinging on a turnaround that requires him to lift the struggling videogame retailer's market value more than tenfold and sharply boost its profit.
Hitting the targets will require a significant shift at GameStop, as the brick-and-mortar store operator has been losing millions in revenue in recent years with gamers turning to the web for purchases.
The company's annual revenue has plummeted
more than 35% since 2022, while its stock price is down 80% from all-time highs hit in 2021, when it became a retail investor darling during the pandemic-era meme-stock rally.
GameStop's new pay plan laid out lofty targets for Cohen, who is now tasked with growing the company's market capitalization to $100 billion and hitting $10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).
Cohen will receive no guaranteed pay in the form of salary, cash bonuses or stock options under the package, the company said. GameStop currently has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion. It hit a record of about $34 billion in the 2021 meme stock rally.
GameStop shares rose 3% in premarket trading on Wednesday. The stock was the top trending name on Stocktwits, a website popular with individual investors.
The award resembles the 10-year incentive plan approved for Elon Musk at Tesla, under which his compensation is tied entirely to stock options that vest only if an ambitious market value target and other operating profit goals are met.
GameStop said Cohen's package consists of stock options to purchase more than 171.5 million shares in GameStop at $20.66 per share.
GameStop's market capitalization target represents a total award value of nearly $35 billion for Cohen, excluding an exercise cost of about $3.5 billion, based on Reuters calculations.
A jump in GameStop's valuation would also benefit Cohen beyond the pay package. He is the company's second-largest shareholder with a stake of 8.3%, per LSEG data.
Billionaire investor Cohen, who joined the GameStop board in January 2021 and became the CEO in September 2023, has steered the company through a period that saw its return to profitability through aggressive cost cutting, which included shuttering hundreds of stores.
GameStop's package for Cohen is divided into nine tranches, with each tranche being eligible to vest after a specific goal.
GameStop said its board has reached an agreement with Cohen on the award. Shareholders will be asked to approve the package at a special meeting expected to be held in March or April.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Maju Samuel)
