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GameStop details CEO's compensation package which doesn't include any guaranteed pay

Business

GameStop details CEO's compensation package which doesn't include any guaranteed pay
Business

Business

GameStop details CEO's compensation package which doesn't include any guaranteed pay

2026-01-08 01:48 Last Updated At:01:50

GameStop is providing details on a new compensation package for CEO Ryan Cohen that is dependent on him meeting certain “significant” performance targets.

The video game retailer said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that Cohen would have to grow its market capitalization to $100 billion and it would need to hit $10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA — or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — for his award to fully vest.

GameStop said Cohen won't receive any guaranteed pay, which it defines as no salary, no cash bonuses, and no stock that simply vests over time.

“His compensation is entirely ‘at-risk,’ meaning he will only be paid if the company achieves significant market and operational goals,” GameStop said in the filing. “This structure ensures that Mr. Cohen’s incentives are directly aligned with creating long-term value for GameStop’s stockholders.”

The structure is similar to a pay package that Tesla shareholders approved for CEO Elon Musk, in which Musk would receive Tesla stock worth $1 trillion if he hits certain performance targets over the next decade.

Cohen's compensation package with GameStop includes stock options to buy more than 171.5 million common shares for $20.66 each. Shareholders must approve the new pay package at a special meeting in March or April.

Shares of GameStop rose 4% to $21.49 in midday trading, giving the company a market cap of roughly $9.26 billion.

The company's shares are down substantially from May 2024 when influential investor Keith Gill, popularly known as “Roaring Kitty," appeared online for the first time in three years to declare his support for GameStop.

Gill helped ignite a “meme” stock craze in early 2021, when GameStop’s stock price soared above $120.

FILE - Pedestrians pass a GameStop store on 14th Street at Union Square, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - Pedestrians pass a GameStop store on 14th Street at Union Square, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Anthropic is suing the Trump administration, asking federal courts to reverse the Pentagon’s decision designating the artificial intelligence company a “ supply chain risk ” over its refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its technology.

Anthropic filed two separate lawsuits Monday, one in California federal court and another in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., each challenging different aspects of the Pentagon’s actions against the company.

The Pentagon last week formally designated the San Francisco tech company a supply chain risk after an unusually public dispute over how its AI chatbot Claude could be used in warfare.

“These actions are unprecedented and unlawful," Anthropic's lawsuit says. "The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech. No federal statute authorizes the actions taken here. Anthropic turns to the judiciary as a last resort to vindicate its rights and halt the Executive’s unlawful campaign of retaliation.”

The Defense Department declined to comment Monday.

Anthropic said it sought to restrict its technology from being used for two high-level usages: mass surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials insisted the company must accept “all lawful uses” of Claude and threatened punishment if the company did not comply.

Designating the company a supply chain risk cuts off Anthropic defense work using an authority that was designed to prevent foreign adversaries from harming national security systems. It was the first time the federal government is known to have used the designation against a U.S. company.

President Donald Trump also said he would order federal agencies to stop using Claude, though he gave the Pentagon six months to phase out a product that’s deeply embedded in classified military systems, including those used in the Iran war.

Even as it fights the Pentagon’s actions, Anthropic has sought to convince businesses and other government agencies that the Trump administration’s penalty is a narrow one that only affects military contractors when they are using Claude in work for the Department of Defense.

Making that distinction clear is crucial for the privately held Anthropic because most of its projected $14 billion in revenue this year comes from businesses and government agencies that are using Claude for computer coding and other tasks. More than 500 customers are paying Anthropic at least $1 million annually for Claude, according to investment that had valued the company at $380 billion.

FILE- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, right, arrive to look at a display of multi-domain autonomous systems in the Pentagon courtyard, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, right, arrive to look at a display of multi-domain autonomous systems in the Pentagon courtyard, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stands outside the Pentagon during a welcome ceremony for the Japanese defense minister at the Pentagon in Washington, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

FILE - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stands outside the Pentagon during a welcome ceremony for the Japanese defense minister at the Pentagon in Washington, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

Pages from the Anthropic website and the company's logos are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

Pages from the Anthropic website and the company's logos are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

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