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Ryan Cohen is GameStop’s largest disclosed insider, with beneficial ownership of 42,082,626 shares, or 9.3%, as of May 20, 2026. The company’s 2026 proxy also names The Vanguard Group at 5.7% and BlackRock at 5.0%; all directors and officers together report 9.5%. These figures are dated beneficial-ownership disclosures, not a complete count of every investor or a measure of who controls the company.
What does GameStop’s latest ownership snapshot show?
GameStop’s 2026 definitive proxy reports beneficial ownership as of May 20, 2026, using 448,691,227 common shares outstanding as its denominator. The named 5% institutional holders are The Vanguard Group and BlackRock, Inc.; the proxy also reports the combined position of all directors and officers.
| Holder or group | Reported beneficial shares | Reported ownership | How to read the figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Cohen | 42,082,626, including 3,734,784 warrants | 9.3% | Largest disclosed insider; President, CEO and chairman |
| The Vanguard Group | 25,450,256 | 5.7% | Named 5% institutional holder |
| BlackRock, Inc. | 22,544,527 | 5.0% | Named 5% institutional holder |
| All directors and officers | 43,140,980 | 9.5% | Aggregate insider and officer position |
The company’s 2026 definitive proxy statement is the source for these May 20 figures. Beneficial ownership is not always identical to shares already issued and held: the proxy includes shares a person can acquire within 60 days, which is why Cohen’s count includes warrants. The percentages should therefore be understood on the proxy’s stated reporting basis, rather than treated as a simple tally of currently issued shares.
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The proxy reports Cohen beneficially owning 42,082,626 shares, or 9.3%, including 3,734,784 warrants. Its footnotes say his shares are directly owned. The reported 9.3% is a beneficial-ownership figure that incorporates acquisition rights, not a claim that every share in the total is already issued common stock.
As of May 20, 2026, 38,347,842 of Cohen’s shares were deposited in a Charles Schwab margin account. The proxy says he generally retains voting and investment discretion unless a foreclosure is triggered. It also describes a company pledging policy with a 50% loan-to-value cap. A margin-account pledge is relevant context for how shares are held, but it does not by itself mean that the lender currently exercises those rights.
Do Vanguard and BlackRock own GameStop?
Yes. The proxy identifies The Vanguard Group as beneficial owner of 25,450,256 shares (5.7%) and BlackRock, Inc. as beneficial owner of 22,544,527 shares (5.0%). These are the positions disclosed for those named institutions in the proxy’s May 20, 2026 snapshot. The figures do not establish that either institution directs every vote associated with client assets in the same way, nor do they represent an ownership census of all funds, advisers, nominees or investors.
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How much GameStop stock is owned by insiders?
GameStop’s proxy reports 43,140,980 shares, or 9.5%, for all directors and officers as a group. That aggregate is distinct from Cohen’s individual 9.3% figure: his shares are included in the group total, so adding the two percentages would double-count him.
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The group figure is a beneficial-ownership disclosure, with the proxy’s applicable treatment of shares acquirable within 60 days. It should not be read as a separate measure of insiders’ voting control or as a percentage of every share held by the public.
Is Ryan Cohen GameStop’s controlling shareholder?
The disclosed percentage alone does not establish that Cohen is a controlling shareholder. The proxy identifies him as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, so he holds substantial executive and board influence as well as a significant economic stake. But his individual disclosed beneficial ownership is 9.3%, and the available ownership figures do not establish that he has majority voting power or unilateral control of shareholder decisions.
The proxy says Cohen joined the board in January 2021, became chair in June 2021 and became CEO in September 2023. It says the board determined that each director nominee other than Cohen and Nat Turner was independent under NYSE and SEC standards. The board’s governance materials are hosted on GameStop’s investor-relations governance page.
Why do GameStop share counts differ by date?
GameStop’s Form 10-K separately reports 448,375,157 Class A common shares outstanding as of March 18, 2026. The proxy uses 448,691,227 common shares outstanding as of May 20, 2026. These figures refer to different reporting dates, so they should not be combined or substituted for one another without retaining their dates. Share counts and ownership percentages can change through transactions, exercises of rights, new share issuance or other denominator changes.
Could Cohen’s proposed compensation dilute GME shareholders?
The 2026 proxy describes a proposed CEO Performance Award of 171,537,327 options. These are not currently issued common shares and do not belong in the present ownership table as if already exercised. If the options were to vest and be exercised, they could increase the share count and dilute existing holders; the extent would depend on the award’s eventual outcome and the company’s share count at that time.
The award’s vesting is performance-based:
- Some vesting requires GameStop to reach at least a $20 billion market capitalization and $2 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA.
- Full vesting requires at least a $100 billion market capitalization and $10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA by the beginning of 2036.
The proxy says Cohen does not draw a salary, take a cash bonus or receive time-vested stock, and describes the proposed award as a 100% performance-based option award. Its performance hurdles are conditions for potential future vesting, not current ownership or guaranteed compensation.
What the ownership figures do not tell you
The proxy is useful for comparing named large holders and insiders, but it is not a census of every GameStop investor. The available disclosures do not establish a complete retail-holder population or a definitive percentage of shares held through direct registration. No retail or direct-registration percentage should be inferred from the table above.
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