GameStop is a well-known video game retailer that many gamers are familiar with where they can purchase games, accessories, consoles, and more. GameStop even sells the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S when they're available with the latest video games to play on the consoles.
GameStop is a company that has many employees working for it in various stores, and has its share of business executives. One of those executives was Jenna Owens, the chief operating officer for GameStop Corp, who has recently agreed to leave the company. The other surprising part is that Owens is leaving the company seven months after joining it.
A report from the Reuters news website states that Owens leaving is the first major departure for the company since GameStop hired Matt Furlong as its new CEO back in June this year. Owens previously worked as an executive for Google, Amazon, and started working for GameStop earlier this year in March as the chief operating officer for the company.
At the time of writing, GameStop did not provide an explanation for why Owens is leaving the company now. However, it did state in a regulatory filing that the company and Owens had reached a "separation agreement." According to the post, the filing said that Owens will be entitled to a severance package, and her duties will be taken up by other senior GameStop managers for the time being.
Beyond that, the company has declined to offer any more comments, and Owens herself couldn't be reached for comment, at the time of writing. According to the post, the company had also reached separation agreements with the previous GameStop CEO George Sherman and chief financial officer Jim Bell before Matt Furlong was hired as the company's new CEO with Mike Recupero as the new CFO.
Owens was brought on board by GameStop's current chairman, Ryan Cohen. He is also the co-founder and former CEO of the e-commerce pet food retailer Chewy, Inc. who was added to GameStop's board of directors this past January. Since then, Cohen also recruited other executive members to the company, including Matt Furlong and Elliott Wilkie as the chief growth officer.
According to the post, GameStop also hired dozens of new business executives who have backgrounds in supply chain and technology, based on public records and other filings. However, while GameStop recruited more people, some also left the company this year before Owens did. According to the post's sources, Cohen and Furlong had let go several senior employees at the company in recent months who do not fit their current buusiness system.
Source: Reuters