Michael Mauler has stepped down as CEO of GameStop for personal reasons only three months after starting, according to a company statement.GameStop Executive Chairman, Co-Founder and former CEO Daniel DeMatteo will return to the chief executive role in an interim capacity while the company seeks a permanent leader.
Mauler stepped into the post in February after then-CEO J. Paul Raines stepped down. Raines had been on medical leave since November 2017 before passing away in March due to complications from brain cancer.
GameStop has seen significant C-suite turnover in the time since Mauler’s promotion to CEO, when the company fired two high-ranking executives: COO Tony Bartel and EVP Michael Hogan. In the months since, other top execs have departed, including human resources head Mike Buskey, CIO Michael Cooper and CMO Randy Gier.
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The lack of stability at the top is likely a byproduct of GameStop’s overall struggles to generate a profit. The retailer has diversified its business with the acquisition of ThinkGeek and the introduction of newer store formats, but competition from digital downloads remains a major threat. While total global sales increased 15% in Q4 2017 and new hardware sales rose 44.8%, the company reported a net loss of $105.9 million, with the company’s stock dipping nearly 50% since May 2017.
From 2010 until his brief CEO reign, Mauler was EVP and President of International at GameStop, which consists of nearly 2,000 stores operating under the GameStop, EB Games, Micromania and Zing Pop Culture brands.
Before heading up GameStop’s global business, Mauler was SVP of Supply Chain and International Support, and before the merger of GameStop and EB Games he was VP of Logistics for Electronics Boutique.
