Reggie Fils-Aime is now on the GameStop board of directors
Is GameStop's body ready? Because former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has just been appointed to GameStop's board of directors. In a shakeup that sees the retirement of four members of GameStop's current board, Reggie, along with two others--William Simon, American CEO of Walmart, and James Symancyk, CEO of PetSmart--will be replacing them as of April 2020. The new members are a likely bid for GameStop to keep itself relevant after years of declining sales, and a current company-wide refresh that aims to make the company more desirable to shop at, especially with the next console generation quickly approaching.
GRAPEVINE, Texas, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) today announced it has appointed three new independent members to its Board of Directors. Joining the Company’s Board are Reginald “Reggie” Fils-Aimé, William “Bill” Simon and James “J.K.” Symancyk. Mr. Simon and Mr. Symancyk’s appointments are effective immediately; Mr. Fils-Aimé’s appointment will be effective April 20, 2020. GameStop’s Board also announced a number of corporate governance enhancements, implementing new guidelines for Board tenure and Committee refreshment, also effective immediately.
The appointments of Messrs. Fils-Aimé, Simon and Symancyk to the GameStop Board are the result of a comprehensive search process led by the Board of Directors and involving shareholder input. After years of distinguished service, four directors – Dan DeMatteo, Gerald Szczepanski, Larry Zilavy and Steve Koonin – have decided to retire from the Board, effective in June 2020, and will not stand for re-election at the Company’s 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. In addition, two current directors – Jerome Davis and Tom Kelly – have decided to retire from the Board, effective June 2021, and will not stand for re-election at the Company’s 2021 Annual Meeting. Kathy Vrabeck, GameStop’s Lead Independent Director, will succeed Mr. DeMatteo as Board Chair.
Following the 2020 Annual Meeting, the GameStop Board will be composed of ten directors, nine of whom will be independent and six of whom will have served on the Board for less than two years. Median director tenure will be one year, significantly reduced from the prior median director tenure of eight years. These changes represent key elements of a Board refreshment process initiated in early 2019.
Ms. Vrabeck said, “On behalf of the entire Board and management team, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Dan, Gerald, Larry and Steve for their significant contributions to GameStop. During their tenure, the Company has made important progress executing on our objective of becoming a leading omni-channel retailer with top market share in the gaming category, and we appreciate their thoughtful leadership, guidance and service. Looking ahead, we are excited about the progress our new leadership team has made to date. We are confident they will continue to accelerate the Company’s turnaround and transformation to drive shareholder value as they pursue opportunities to create meaningful entertainment experiences for our customers and enhance partnerships with gaming publishers and console and PC developers.”
George Sherman, GameStop’s CEO, said, “The Board refreshment and governance enhancements announced today represent an important milestone in GameStop’s transformation as we continue to evolve the Company’s business strategy for long-term success. We are pleased to welcome Reggie, Bill and J.K. to the Board. They are each highly qualified and bring significant, relevant experience to our turnaround. We look forward to immediately benefitting from their expertise and perspectives as we navigate the evolving gaming and retail environments, execute on our strategic initiatives and prepare the Company to maximize value-creation associated with the next generation of console launches later this year.”
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