GameStop's stock exploded to an all-time high in late January, boosted by a strange combination of Reddit, Elon Musk, and a YouTuber calling himself Roaring Kitty. But the company actually began to show signs of life long before that, when Ryan Cohen, co-founder of Chewy (an online pet store), bought a 9% stake in the company in August 2020. A few months later, Cohen raised his stake to nearly 13%.

Cohen also had plans to turn the company around; GameStop had long been a "destination" store for gamers everywhere, but the rise of digital distribution had made it largely irrelevant, especially to PC users who were early beneficiaries of Steam. According to this Bloomberg report, Cohen's idea is to increase its online presence, expand its selection, and improve shipping times.

To what extent this is possible remains to be seen, but on April 8, GameStop announced that Cohen would become chairman of its board of directors. Less than two weeks later, CEO George Sherman stepped down.

"As disclosed in GameStop's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 23, 2021, the Board has been evaluating the management team to ensure that the Company has the appropriate skills to meet changing business requirements.

"Our Form 10-K also states that the Board has retained a third-party firm to assist in its efforts. The Board's Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation Committee is leading a search to identify a CEO candidate with the capabilities and experience to help accelerate the next phase of our transformation.

Sherman was appointed CEO of GameStop in March 2019, but failed to turn around the company's fortunes in a meaningful way. Layoffs and store closures continued during his tenure, with 462 GameStop stores closing in 2020 alone, and the stock price continued to decline, falling from $11.75 on March 1, 2019 to $4.01 on July 31, 2020.

Reuters reported last week that Sherman lost more than 587,000 shares of Gamestop stock, originally granted in an April 2019 "induced bonus agreement" and worth roughly $98 million at current prices, for failing to meet performance targets. Nevertheless, as the Wall Street Journal points out, he retained another roughly 1.12 million shares granted under the same contract, currently worth in the neighborhood of $175 million. This value is an odd coincidence, given that at the time Sherman took over as CEO, Gamestop's stock price was well below $10. If Gamestop's stock price is worth that much today, Sherman's shares would be worth only about $11 million.

"Gamestop is grateful for the valuable leadership George has provided throughout his tenure. He took many decisive steps to stabilize the business during difficult times," Cohen said. 'Our company today is much stronger than when he joined us. On a personal note, I would also like to thank George for forming important partnerships with the new directors and executives who have joined Gamestop in recent months."

The announcement of Sherman's departure sent Game Stop's stock price soaring again, topping $173 on April 19. It has since dropped to the mid $150s. Sherman plans to leave as soon as a replacement is found or on July 31, whichever comes first.