Last Updated on June 8, 2023 by Bitfinsider

The termination of GameStop CEO Matt Furlong was announced in a statement issued by the company today. Furlong oversaw the long-standing retailer’s expansion into NFT collectibles through a digital asset marketplace.

No replacement has yet been named, but Ryan Cohen, a billionaire investor and board chairman, has been designated the company’s executive chairman. Cohen is the founder and former CEO of the online pet supply retailer Chewy.

Mark Robinson, formerly the general counsel of GameStop, has been named the company’s general manager and “principal executive officer,” per a 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to Google Finance, GameStop’s share price has dropped approximately 19% in after-hours trading, to just above $21 per share. The share price reached a new 2023 high of over $26 per share prior to the announcement.

Furlong left Amazon for GameStop in June 2021, shortly after the meme stock mania that boosted the struggling retailer’s share price. The retailer had already hinted at plans to do something on Ethereum prior to his hiring, but it was during his tenure that its NFT marketplace was disclosed and the platform was launched.

During a December 2018 earnings call, Furlong stated that the company would refocus on its primary pillars of video games, pre-owned items, and collectibles, while placing less emphasis on NFT and crypto-related initiatives.

According to the video game publication GameSpot, he stated that GameStop, which endured multiple rounds of layoffs during Furlong’s tenure, “will not risk meaningful stockholder capital in this space,” referring to the cryptocurrency industry.