GameStop CEO Cohen drops $35B bonus plan amid eBay bid push, shareholder lawsuit

GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME)'s board has scrapped a proposed CEO performance award after a request from CEO Ryan Cohen, who said he wants leadership focused on the company's operating performance and its pursuit of online marketplace eBay. The award, approved in January 2026, would have paid Cohen as much as $35 billion if GameStop reached a market capitalization of $100 billion. Its removal comes as the video game retailer faces mounting investor backlash over its unsolicited $56 billion bid for eBay, a company roughly four times GameStop's size.

eBay's board has already rejected the offer as "neither credible nor attractive," citing concerns over financing and leadership. GameStop said it plans to release additional details this week on the strategic rationale for the proposed acquisition, including how the two companies could fit together and what a combined business might look like. The company stressed the update does not constitute an offer or solicitation tied to the transaction.

Legal pressure is also building. The City of Pontiac General Employees' Retirement System has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Delaware, alleging the board manipulated voting rules to favor insiders ahead of a shareholder vote. A separate investor suit had sought to pause the bonus plan pending fuller shareholder disclosures.

GameStop has denied that the eBay bid was motivated by the performance award's $100 billion market cap threshold. GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME)'s board has scrapped a proposed CEO performance award after a request from CEO Ryan Cohen, who said he wants leadership focused on the company's operating performance and its pursuit of online marketplace eBay. The award, approved in January 2026, would have paid Cohen as much as $35 billion if GameStop reached a market capitalization of $100 billion.

Its removal comes as the video game retailer faces mounting investor backlash over its unsolicited $56 billion bid for eBay, a company roughly four times GameStop's size. eBay's board has already rejected the offer as "neither credible nor attractive," citing concerns over financing and leadership. GameStop said it plans to release additional details this week on the strategic rationale for the proposed acquisition, including how the two companies could fit together and what a combined business might look like.

The company stressed the update does not constitute an offer or solicitation tied to the transaction. Legal pressure is also building. The City of Pontiac General Employees' Retirement System has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Delaware, alleging the board manipulated voting rules to favor insiders ahead of a shareholder vote.

A separate investor suit had sought to pause the bonus plan pending fuller shareholder disclosures. GameStop has denied that the eBay bid was motivated by the performance award's $100 billion market cap threshold. GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME)'s board has scrapped a proposed CEO performance award after a request from CEO Ryan Cohen, who said he wants leadership focused on the company's operating performance and its pursuit of online marketplace eBay.

The award, approved in January 2026, would have paid Cohen as much as $35 billion if GameStop reached a market capitalization of $100 billion. Its removal comes as the video game retailer faces mounting investor backlash over its unsolicited $56 billion bid for eBay, a company roughly four times GameStop's size. eBay's board has already rejected the offer as "neither credible nor attractive," citing concerns over financing and leadership.

GameStop said it plans to release additional details this week on the strategic rationale for the proposed acquisition, including how the two companies could fit together and what a combined business might look like. The company stressed the update does not constitute an offer or solicitation tied to the transaction. Legal pressure is also building.

The City of Pontiac General Employees' Retirement System has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Delaware, alleging the board manipulated voting rules to favor insiders ahead of a shareholder vote. A separate investor suit had sought to pause the bonus plan pending fuller shareholder disclosures. GameStop has denied that the eBay bid was motivated by the performance award's $100 billion market cap threshold.