Benzinga | Apr 19, 2021 08:17AM EDT

George Sherman To Step Down As GameStop CEO

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) has announced CEO George Sherman will be resigning by July 31 or pending the earlier appointment of a successor.

What Happened: The Grapevine, Texas-based company quietly acknowledged it was looking to replace Sherman in its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, filed on March 23, but the news did not become public knowledge until an April 12 Reuters report citing anonymous sources.

Sherman became CEO in April 2019 after serving as CEO at Victra, a Verizon (NYSE:VZ) authorized retailer. He was the fourth person in three years to occupy the chief executive's office:

* J. Paul Raines who was promoted from chief operating officer to CEO in 2010, stepped down in January 2018 after being on medical leave for three months due to the reoccurrence of brain tumor;

* xecutive Vice President Michael K. Mauler became the new CEO in February 2018 but resigned three months later and was replaced by;

* Shane Kim, a GameStop director and former Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) executive, served as interim CEO until Sherman's arrival.

Related Link: Musk, Palihapitiya Threw 'Jet Fuel' On GameStop Short Squeeze, David Einhorn Says

Why It Happened: GameStop offered no reason on why Sherman is leaving. Incoming Chairman of the Board Ryan Cohen, the co-founder and former CEO of online pet food company Chewy Inc (NYSE:CHWY) lavishly praised Sherman's "valuable leadership" over the past two years.

"He took many decisive steps to stabilize the business during challenging times," he said. "The company is much stronger today than when he joined. On a personal note, I also want to thank George for forming important partnerships with the new directors and executives who have joined GameStop in recent months."

GameStop has been at the center of controversy this year as retail investors unexpectedly purchased large amounts of shares, forcing large hedge funds to cover short positions and the RobinHood online brokerage to abruptly suspended trading of GameStop and other stocks.

The company's stock trading took on an oscilloscope quality as retail investors continued to buy shares in large volumes; the issue resulted in congressional inquiries on the stock market and renewed calls from some politicians including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for stricter Wall Street regulations.

(Photo by Mike Mozart / Flickr Creative Commons.)