GameStop names new CEO
Retailer promotes president of international brands Michael K. Mauler as predecessor J. Paul Raines leaves board of directors due to illness
GameStop has named its new CEO, today announcing that the company's executive vice president and president of international business Michael K. Mauler has taken over the position.
Mauler, who has been with the company for more than 16 years, takes the CEO role effective immediately, and also joins GameStop's board of directors.
"On behalf of GameStop's Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce Mike Mauler as our new CEO," said GameStop executive chairman (and until today, interim CEO) Dan DeMatteo. "Mike has been part of the GameStop senior leadership team for many years, where he has played an integral role in creating and driving the blueprint of our diversification strategy, successfully managing our international operations, and growing our core business segments. We are fortunate to have such an accomplished leader, who has a thorough understanding of our operations, business strategy and our stakeholders, and is committed to strengthening our results and driving our company forward."
Mauler's promotion follows the unfortunate departure of GameStop's last CEO, J. Paul Raines. Raines had been CEO since 2010 and had overseen much of the specialty retailer's efforts to diversify beyond physical game sales in an increasingly digital industry. However, he had been on leave since November due to a re-occurrence of a brain tumor.
While Raines left to receive treatment, he retained a spot on the board of directors during his leave. According to an SEC filing, Raines resigned from the board on Wednesday "in order to focus on his health and family," and will technically end his employment with the company in mid-March. The Dallas Morning News reports that Raines also resigned from his position on retailer JC Penny's board of directors last week.