GameStop’s CFO is resigning as the company attempts a ’transformation’ led by activist investor Ryan Cohen

• GameStop just lost a key member of its executive team: Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell is resigning.
• The move is intended “to help accelerate GameStop’s transformation,” the company said.
• Bell’s resignation is the first major exec shakeup at GameStop in two years.
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Just under two years since he joined GameStop as Chief Financial Officer, Jim Bell is resigning as of this week.

In a press release, GameStop said it is looking for a new executive to take Bell’s place. The candidate should have, “the capabilities and qualifications to help accelerate GameStop’s transformation,” the release said.

Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Diana Jajeh will serve as interim Chief Financial Officer while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

Bell was part of a new executive team chosen to lead GameStop out of dire financial straits in 2019, alongside CEO George Sherman. Bell oversaw GameStop’s financials during an especially bizarre period of the company’s long history: From historically low stock values in much of 2019 and 2020, to the explosive bubble of early 2021, and throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

GameStop’s executive team has come under increased scrutiny as activist investor Ryan Cohen bought up a major stake in the company in 2020. Cohen now occupies a space on the company’s board. In November 2020, Cohen published an open letter to GameStop shareholders that criticized Sherman, Bell, and the rest of GameStop’s executive leadership team.

"Through our private conversations, we have explained to Mr. Sherman and the Board that GameStop has the ability to pivot toward becoming a technology-driven business that excels in the gaming and digital experience worlds," Cohen wrote in the letter. "But this pivot requires the type of strategic vision that has not yet taken hold in the c-suite or boardroom."

It appears that this is the "transformation" that GameStop is referring to in the press release announcing Bell's resignation, but a request for clarification to GameStop went unanswered as of publishing.

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