TLDR
- GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen announced plans to acquire a publicly traded company using the retailer’s $8.8 billion cash reserve.
- Shares climbed 4.3% Friday and have gained 17% year-to-date following the acquisition news.
- Cohen’s compensation package worth up to $35 billion requires GameStop to hit a $100 billion market cap.
- “Big Short” investor Michael Burry is buying GameStop shares and compared Cohen to Warren Buffett.
- Shareholders vote on Cohen’s performance-based pay package between March and April.
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is preparing to make a major acquisition. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Cohen confirmed he’s targeting a publicly traded company in the consumer or retail space.
The company has serious firepower. GameStop’s cash position reached $8.8 billion by the end of October. That’s a dramatic increase from the $619 million it held in January 2021.
Cohen was blunt about the risks. “It’s ultimately either going to be genius or totally, totally foolish,” he told the Journal.
The market likes what it’s hearing. GameStop stock jumped 4.3% to $23.79 on Friday. The shares have climbed 17% since the start of 2026.
Performance-Based Compensation
Cohen’s personal stakes are high. A new compensation proposal could give him options on 171.5 million shares at $20.66 per share.
But there’s a catch. The package only vests if GameStop reaches a $100 billion market cap and generates $10 billion in cumulative performance earnings. Right now, the company’s market cap sits around $10.2 billion.
The pay structure includes zero salary and zero bonuses. Everything hinges on performance.
Shareholders will decide the package’s fate in a vote scheduled for March or April. If approved, Cohen stands to make roughly $35 billion.
Michael Burry’s Endorsement
The investor made famous by “The Big Short” is backing Cohen’s play. Michael Burry revealed he’s been accumulating GameStop shares.
Burry drew a comparison between Cohen and Warren Buffett. He highlighted how Buffett turned Berkshire Hathaway from a failing textile operation into a trillion-dollar holding company.
“He’s one of the few investors I respect,” Cohen said about Burry’s public support.
In his Substack newsletter, Burry acknowledged GameStop’s core business challenges. “He has a crappy business, and he is milking it best he can while taking advantage of the meme stock phenomenon to raise cash,” Burry wrote.
With $9 billion available, Cohen can pursue companies with struggling management. The strategy mirrors Berkshire’s playbook of acquiring undervalued businesses and improving operations.
The Path Forward
Cohen’s acquisition strategy represents a clear departure from GameStop’s traditional model. The Chewy co-founder has remained relatively quiet since taking control. This announcement marks his most direct statement about the company’s future direction.
Any deal would likely boost GameStop’s market cap in the near term. But reaching those earnings benchmarks requires more than just closing an acquisition. Cohen needs to successfully integrate and manage whatever company he buys.
Cohen rejected the “meme stock” characterization in his Journal interview. He emphasized his focus stays on long-term fundamental value creation.
The compensation structure follows recent trends in executive pay. Tesla approved a similar moonshot package for CEO Elon Musk tied to aggressive performance targets.
GameStop declined to comment on connections between Cohen’s pay and the acquisition timeline. The company has undergone a transformation from struggling retailer to cash-rich entity searching for its next growth opportunity.
