GameStop, the video game retailer in the midst of an e-commerce pivot, has removed its CFO, Michael Recupero, after just one year on the job.
Recupero, who was formerly CFO of Amazon’s North American Consumer business, was “terminated without cause,” meaning he will be entitled to severance benefits, according to GameStop’s regulatory filing. GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen reportedly pushed Recupero out “because he was not the right culture fit” and was “too hands off,” per CNBC.
The retailer’s Chief Accounting Officer, Diana Saadeh-Jajeh, has assumed the CFO office effective immediately.
Saadeh-Jajeh is an experienced candidate to fill Recupero’s shoes, as she previously held the CFO role at GameStop on an interim basis in 2021 after the departure of then-finance chief Jim Bell. Before GameStop, she served as the VP of Global Finance Operations and Transformation at JUUL Labs, and has also held senior roles at e.l.f. and Visa.
Saadeh-Jajeh inherits the finances of a company in the midst of an ambitious turnaround effort, which includes an e-commerce push and embracing new technologies including cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse.
GameStop launched its NFT marketplace this week, building on the debut of GameStop Wallet in May 2022. The moves are part of the company’s larger shift to digital commerce but have come at a cost. In the first quarter of 2022, GameStop reported a $153.7 million operating loss—a large jump from the $40.8 million loss the company reported during the same period in 2021.
Now with Saadeh-Jajeh in charge, GameStop will look to cut costs as it hunts for profitability. After hiring more than 600 new corporate employees, the company has announced a wave of layoffs across several corporate departments alongside its CFO transition. In a memo obtained by CNBC, Cohen said the cuts would help GameStop “keep things simple and operate nimbly with the right talent in place.”
“Change will be a constant as we evolve our commerce business and launch new products through our blockchain group,” Cohen added. “After investing heavily in personnel, technology, inventory and supply chain infrastructure over the past 18 months, our focus is on achieving sustained profitability. This means eliminating excess costs and operating with an intense owner’s mentality. Everyone in the organization must become even more hands-on and embrace a heightened level of accountability for results.”
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