GameStop Raises the Stakes, Tying CEO Pay to ‘Extraordinary’ Growth Targets Like Tesla

GameStop Corp. is revamping Chief Executive Officer Ryan Cohen’s compensation to mirror the kind of long-term, performance-based incentives popularized by Tesla Inc., dangling a potentially massive equity award tied to extraordinary growth targets.

Under the plan, Cohen would be eligible for a large stock-options package if he can lift GameStop’s market capitalization to $100 billion from about $9.3 billion — an increase of roughly tenfold — and steer the videogame retailer to sustained profitability. The proposal comes after a lackluster period for the company’s shares, which have struggled to maintain momentum following bouts of retail-investor enthusiasm.

In addition to the market-value hurdle, Cohen must guide the company to what GameStop describes as $10 billion in “cumulative performance” earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The targets are designed to reward long-term value creation rather than short-term stock-price gains, according to the company.

The structure echoes the compensation framework used at Tesla, where outsized equity awards have been tied to aggressive market-cap and operational milestones. For GameStop, the plan underscores the scale of the turnaround Cohen is being asked to deliver — and the magnitude of the payoff if he succeeds.