By GameStop Corp. Chief Executive Matt Furlong received total compensation of nearly $17 million in 2021, after being in the role for only a little more than six months.
Furlong started as the videogame and consumer electronics retailer’s
GME,
-0.78%
CEO on June 21, after most recently overseeing Amazon.com Inc.’s
AMZN,
+1.42%
Australia business.
In GameStop’s preliminary 2021 proxy statement filed late Monday, the company disclosed that Furlong’s total compensation for 2021 was $16.81 million. That total included $115,385 in salary, which was prorated from his agreed on base salary of $200,000.
His total compensation also included a prorated new-hire bonus of $1.59 million, stock awards valued at $14.85 million and all other compensation of $250,453, most of which was comprised of relocation benefits.
Former CEO George Sherman, who Furlong succeeded, received $652,306 in total compensation in 2021, including $469,615 in salary and $182,691 in all other compensation, which included $138,773 in relocation benefits.
His total compensation for a full-year’s work in 2020 was $7.17 million, which included $1.00 million in base salary and stock awards valued at $6.12 million.
GameStop’s stock went on a wild ride in 2021. After the meme stock rocketed 963.5% from the end of 2020 through June 21, 2021, it then fell 25.9% through the end of 2021. The stock was down 1.2% in afternoon trading Tuesday, and has lost 2.2% so far in 2022. In comparison, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.39%
had run up 12.8% from June 21 through year-end 2021, and has lost 7.0% since then.
Separately, Chief Financial Officer Michael Recupero, also a former Amazon executive who started at GameStop on July 12, 2021, received total 2021 compensation of $11.07 million. That included $103,846 in base pay, $1.13 million in a new-hire bonus and stock awards valued at $9.84 million.
And GameStop’s largest shareholder Ryan Cohen, who was voted in as chairman of the board at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in June 2021, received no compensation in 2021, according to the preliminary proxy statement. However, he was the beneficial owner of 9.10 million GameStop shares, or 11.9% of the shares outstanding, as of April 8, 2022.
