GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen bought 500k shares yesterday. He just did it again.

I feel like this guy should be in jail for manipulating the share price


I feel like Martin skhreli and Martha Stuart went to jail for way less

I think GME stock is down like 30% since your last thread on it lmao.

Or maybe, it’s only worth what the market says it is?

Seems like a lot of mental gymnastics you are putting yourself through.

Perhaps this is just a case of the simplest explanation is the right one?

No. I knew you were wrong, but asked Grok to quickly explain Ryan Cohen's performance based compensation plan.

quote:

---

Ryan Cohen's stock compensation offer at GameStop (GME) refers to a major performance-based equity award announced by the company on January 7, 2026.This is a long-term incentive plan designed to tie Cohen's rewards directly to massive growth in the company's value and profitability. It's structured as 100% "at-risk" compensation — meaning Cohen receives no guaranteed salary, no cash bonuses, and no stock that vests simply over time (no time-based vesting). He only gets paid if GameStop achieves extremely ambitious targets.Key Details of the AwardType: Performance-based stock options (not restricted stock units or direct shares).
Number of shares: Options to purchase 171,537,327 shares of GameStop Class A common stock.
Exercise price: $20.66 per share (set near the stock price around the grant date).
Potential value: If fully vested and exercised (excluding the cost to exercise), the options could be worth roughly $35 billion (based on media estimates at announcement, depending on the stock price at exercise).
Vesting structure: Divided into 9 tranches, each requiring both a market capitalization milestone and a cumulative "Performance EBITDA" (a custom EBITDA metric, adjusted for certain items like stock-based compensation) hurdle. There's no partial vesting for missing targets — it's all-or-nothing per tranche, with escalating requirements.Starts at a minimum threshold: $20 billion market cap (averaged over 60 trading days) and $2 billion in cumulative Performance EBITDA ? vests the first tranche (about 10%).
Scales up in steps (e.g., +$10B market cap and +$1B EBITDA per subsequent tranche).
Full vesting: $100 billion market cap and $10 billion in cumulative Performance EBITDA.

Timeframe: The performance period is long-term (options generally have a 10-year life from grant).
Approval required: The award needs shareholder approval at a special meeting expected in March or April 2026. Cohen recused himself from board discussions on it.
Special provisions: In a "change in control" (e.g., acquisition), the EBITDA targets may be waived, and vesting ties to the deal-implied market cap.

This package draws comparisons to Elon Musk's famous performance-based plan at Tesla — extremely aggressive, aligned with shareholders, and betting everything on extraordinary success.At announcement, GameStop's market cap was around $9–10 billion, so hitting even the first tranche would require roughly doubling the market cap while delivering strong profitability. Full targets represent a ~10x increase from then.It's a bold signal of confidence from Cohen and the board in a massive turnaround for GameStop. Recent insider buys by Cohen (e.g., adding shares in January 2026) further show his skin in the game beyond this package.For the official details, check GameStop's investor relations press release or SEC filings from early January 2026. This is high-risk/high-reward alignment — Cohen succeeds only if shareholders do massively.

---

He still isn't accepting pay (unheard of for most CEOs) and is currently using his own money to buy stock. The above performance plan permits him to buy more stock as he increases the value of GameStop. Kind of cool.

Also, board member Alain Attal bought 12,000 shares yesterday and 12,000 more today - using his own cash.

What is the famous quote by Peter Lynch about insider buying and selling?

quote:

---

The only ones manipulating the price are the mega shorters and market makers. GameStop should be well over 100 per share with the 6 profitable quarters in a row!

---

What? Why?

It’s trading at 25x forward earnings. Best Buy trades at 10x forward. Why should GME trade at a higher forward PE than BBY, much less 100x forward? Nevermind the fact that the vast majority of their profitability has come from the interest earned on cash rather than their core business.

Honestly the fact that it’s still trading where it is is somewhat of a miracle.

That’s what I meant. Doesn’t his compensation package give him options to buy at a certain price at certain points, so this is him just exercising the options as they open up?

Not arguing, that was just my understanding. It’s not like Bezos randomly buying a bunch of AMZN. This guy will continue to buy stock as his options open up, right?

The last 2 500,000 share purchase over the last two days was not part of the compensation plan. He just decided he likes the stock.

I think he is trying to get back to 10%. That dropped when the stock was diluted a few years ago.

per Grok;

quote:

---

GameStop ($GME) has conducted several at-the-market (ATM) equity offerings since 2020, which are the primary sources of share dilution (issuing new shares to raise capital, increasing the total shares outstanding). These are voluntary issuances filed via SEC prospectus supplements, not forced dilutions or reverse splits.Prior to major activity in 2021, shares outstanding were around ~260-350 million in 2020 (varying by quarter, with some buybacks earlier but net higher in late 2020).Key Dilutive Events (ATM Offerings) Since 2020:2020/early 2021 setup: An initial ATM program was established in December 2020 (up to $100M), but significant sales began in 2021.
April 2021: Issued ~3.5 million shares, raising ~$551.7 million net.
June 2021: Completed an ATM for 5 million shares, raising $1.126 billion gross ($1.1B+ net proceeds).These 2021 offerings significantly increased shares outstanding from 70 million (pre-2021 sales) to around **260-305 million** by end of 2021/2022.
2024 (major meme rally period):May/June 2024: Large ATM programs, including one for up to 45 million shares (~$933 million gross) and a follow-on (e.g., additional 75 million shares in one filing, ~$2.137 billion gross).
These contributed to a sharp jump in shares outstanding from ~305 million (early 2024) to over 400 million+.

September 2024: Completed an ATM for 20 million shares, raising ~$400 million gross.

No major new equity dilutions appear in late 2024 or 2025 from standard ATM announcements in available data (though one note on convertible notes in 2025 was for debt, not direct equity issuance). Shares outstanding stabilized around 447-448 million as of late 2025/early 2026 (e.g., ~447.9 million in Q3 2025 filings, ~448 million current).Shares Outstanding Trend (Approximate Year-End or Annual Average):2020: ~260-350 million (pre-dilution baseline varied)
2021: ~260 million (post-initial issuances)
2022-2023: ~290-305 million (stable/minor changes)
2024: Jumped to ~305 million ? ~430+ million (post-ATM sales)
2025: ~395-448 million (year-end/current ~447-448 million)

These issuances raised billions overall (e.g., estimates of over $5 billion+ across periods in some analyses), strengthening the balance sheet (reduced debt, cash for investments/general purposes). Dilution is a common tool for companies like GameStop to raise capital without debt, especially during high-volatility/price periods.For the most precise/current figures, check GameStop's latest SEC filings (10-Q/10-K) or investor relations site, as shares can fluctuate slightly with minor issuances or repurchases.

---

and this on Ryan Cohen's ownership;

quote:

---

Ryan Cohen, CEO and Chairman of GameStop Corp. ($GME), currently beneficially owns approximately 9.3% of the company's outstanding shares.This is based on his most recent Schedule 13D/A filings with the SEC (amendments reported in January 2026):He beneficially owns 42,082,626 shares of Class A common stock.
This includes 38,347,842 directly owned shares and 3,734,784 shares underlying warrants (from a prior warrant dividend distribution).
The percentage is calculated against 448,009,480 shares outstanding (as reported in filings referencing December 5, 2025 data).

This reflects recent open-market purchases:January 20, 2026: 500,000 shares at a weighted average price of ~$21.12 (boosting to ~9.2%).
January 21, 2026: Another 500,000 shares at a weighted average price of ~$21.60 (bringing to ~9.3%).

These buys were made with his personal funds, and he has emphasized in filings the importance of CEOs aligning interests by purchasing shares openly. He has not sold any GME shares historically.For the absolute latest (post-January 21/22, 2026), check GameStop's investor relations site or recent SEC filings (via EDGAR for CIK 1326380), as ownership can update with new transactions or share count changes. As of the filings and reports around January 22, 2026, this stands at ~9.3%.

---

quote:

---

This is fraught with its own perils too. The list of companies who’ve gone down the drain due to focusing on stock price versus

---

Which resulted in their stock price going down and the CEO should have had to feel that pain.

quote:

---

Which resulted in their stock price going down and the CEO should have had to feel that pain.

---

Yea except the CEO has already sold most of their company issued stock at higher valuations/on the way down.


There are a shitload of things that companies can do to juice a stock valuation in the short term at the risk of long term downside. Further incentivizing a CEO to maximize short term stock valuation is going to yield terrible results more times than not.

I know it's taboo, but I'm of the unorthodox opinion that a company's primary focus should be to compete in the marketplace and deliver the best product or service that they can to meet customer demand. If your CEO's primary focus is driving up the stock price over the next 4 quarters, your CEO is likely some MBA dweeb that doesn't actually give a frick about the business, its product or its customers.

What I really like about GameStop is that they are turning profit quarter after quarter and coming up with new products. They are closing unprofitable stores and working to reduce store saturations. Too many places have multiple stores in a small radius.

Some of their profit is from interest on the 9 billion cash reserves "war chest" they have accumulated, but why fault them for getting interest on it?

I think the management team is good and is working hard to continue to strengthen the company.