GameStop appoints Reggie Fils-Aimé to board of directors

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Reggie Fils-Aimé, former Head of Nintendo of America, has been appointed by retailer GameStop to their board of directors. The retailer has also appointed William ‘Bill’ Simon, former Walmart US CEO, and James ‘JK’ Symancyk, President and CEO of PetSmart.

Each of these appointments has been made with immediate effect. This will add some truly successful industry veterans to the company’s board right before a number of current members stand down.

Among those who will soon no longer be board members are Larry Zilavy, Steve Koonin, Dan DeMatteo, and Gerald Szczepanski. They will be leaving in June 2020. There are also plans for both Jerome Davis and Tom Kelly to retire at some point in 2021.

Kathy Vrabeck, current Lead Independent Director for GameStop, will be succeeding Dan DeMatteo as board chair when he leaves in June later this year.

In addition to these board member changes, GameStop has also made adjustments to its corporate governance. Now they will target an average board tenure for independent directors of under ten years. They are also implementing a rotation of committee members and chairs at a rate of around every five years.

George Sherman, GameStop’s CEO, explained that the announcement of the changes to governance and refreshment to the board is a huge milestone for the company. It is part of their long-term strategy to transform GameStop into a business that will perform well for the foreseeable future. Sherman ended by describing how excited the company is to be welcoming Reggie Fils-Aimé, Bill, and JK to their board.

GameStop has been experiencing a number of financial issues over the past year or so. The company is currently in the process of restructuring in order to focus on long-term success. This move, welcoming such renowned people from the industry, should help their strategy pull them out of the rough waters they’ve been in, and into a more secure position leading up to the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

The launch of a new console generation will provide a much-needed boost for the company. However, some people are concerned that the coronavirus outbreak will mean that the release of these consoles is delayed. If that happens, it could spell doom for GameStop.