Reggie Fils-Aimé Criticises GameStop Management's Lack Of "Articulated" Strategy

Products You May Like

Reggie Fils-Amie was at SXSW this weekend to talk about the current disruption in the entertainment industry market, and during his talk at the show, he was asked about his thoughts on a number of things, inclusing Facebook’s metaverse.

Naturally, at that same talk, Nintendo of America’s former President was also questioned about GameStop. Reggie served on the retailer’s Board of Directors from April 2020 to June 2021. GameStop was another of the many companies hit hard by the pandemic and the increase in digital sales. Reggie joined the board hoping that he could help the company out. “The gaming industry needs a healthy and vibrant GameStop,” he said about his appointment on Twitter back in 2020. “I look forward to being a part of GameStop’s corporate board and helping to make this happen.”

At SXSW, Reggie backed this up and reiterated his belief that GameStop could be successful if it adapted and branched out into e-commerce — Chewy CEO Ryan Cohen was brought onto the board to make this happen — but although Reggie wanted to be a part of that effort, he says he was “rebuffed”.

When Bloomberg’s Emily Chang asked what Reggie has to say about the company’s strategy now, he was less than complimentary about its direction:

“There has not been an articulated strategy. Leadership says we don’t want to articulate our strategy because they don’t want it to be stolen. To me that was not acceptable.”

You’ll remember that the announcement of Reggie’s departure happened just a few months after the short squeeze and subsequent inflation of GameStop stock prices. While Reggie talked about this period briefly, he did not state his reason for leaving GameStop directly, nor did he disclose how much he sold his shares for. At the least, it seems like a difference of opinions is what led him and a number of other prominent board members to leave.

You can see the whole discussion about GameStop from SXSW on Bloomberg.