GameStop (NYSE: GME) CEO Ryan Cohen has asked the company’s board to remove his proposed performance award from the proxy statement, clearing the way for a sharper focus on the proposed eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) acquisition.
The board had originally approved the CEO Performance Award in January 2026, before GameStop formally committed to pursuing eBay as an acquisition target.
The award was structured to pay out up to $35 billion in shares if GameStop hit specific performance thresholds, representing one of the largest executive compensation packages ever proposed.
Those thresholds required GameStop to reach a $100 billion market capitalization and generate $10 billion in cumulative EBITDA before any shares would vest.
The board granted Cohen’s request to remove the award, and GameStop subsequently filed a supplemental proxy amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cohen stated that he wants leadership fully focused on GameStop’s operating performance and its proposed eBay acquisition, framing the decision as a matter of organizational clarity.
By forfeiting the award ahead of the July 7 annual shareholder meeting, Cohen removes a governance distraction at a moment when the acquisition bid demands undivided attention.
The optics of the decision carry significant strategic weight, given that Cohen’s past proxy campaigns have consistently argued that incumbent management was overpaid relative to its performance record.
Entering a hostile acquisition bid while carrying a nine-figure personal incentive package would have handed eBay’s board a ready-made counterattack against Cohen’s credibility as an activist acquirer.
Polymarket currently prices the probability of a completed deal at just 14%, reflecting broad skepticism across financial markets about whether eBay’s board will engage with GameStop’s approach.
GameStop’s upcoming strategic presentation is expected to serve as the clearest signal yet of whether the acquisition effort can move from a hostile posture toward a negotiated transaction.
The combination of Cohen’s compensation surrender and the strategic update positions GameStop’s leadership to make the most focused case possible to shareholders and to eBay’s board ahead of a critical summer vote.
