GameStop went shopping for a new CEO and CFO and found them at Amazon.com.
The retailer announced yesterday that it has named Matt Furlong as its new chief executive and Mike Recupero in its top finance role. Messrs. Furlong and Recupero are each leaving Amazon to take their new jobs at the video gaming retailer.
Mr. Furlong most recently ran Amazon’s Australian business and previously served as the retail and technology giant’s technical advisor to the head of the North American division. He served in a number of other roles during his nine years with Amazon. He began his career at Procter & Gamble with a focus on brand, marketing and sales.
Mr. Recupero spent 17 years at Amazon in a variety of financial roles after joining the company as an analyst. He most recently served as CFO of the company’s North American Consumer business. Before that he held the same role at Prime Video.
Mr. Furlong will be the first of the two to officially join GameStop with a start date of June 21. Mr. Recupero will follow on July 12.
The hiring of the two executives follows recent additions to the GameStop’s senior leadership team, including a new chief operating officer, chief growth officer and chief technology officer, bringing with them experience from digital organizations such as Amazon, Chewy and QVC.
The changes at GameStop are all said to be driven by its newly-elected chairman of the board Ryan Cohen. The former co-founder and CEO of Chewy has taken a major role in pushing GameStop’s digital transformation since first acquiring about a 10 percent stake in the company last year and then later being added to its board.
Mr. Cohen complained in a letter to GameStop’s board last November that the retailer was still operating a twentieth century business in a completely new era for gaming.
“If GameStop takes practical steps to cut its excessive real estate costs and hire the right talent, it will have the resources to begin building a powerful e-commerce platform that provides competitive pricing, broad gaming selection, fast shipping and a truly high-touch experience that excites and delights customers,” he wrote. “This is the type of world-class infrastructure that was constructed at Chewy, which is worth multiples of GameStop’s current market capitalization.”
