Retail investors still retain ownership of GameStop stock's float.

GameStop's ownership structure is predominantly made up of retail investors, who account for nearly 60% of the company's outstanding shares. A significant portion of these retail investors holds their shares through the Direct Registration System (DRS), approximately 25% of the outstanding shares are registered directly with the transfer agent.

Institutional investors, such as Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street Corp., hold approximately 27% of GameStop's outstanding shares, valued at approximately $1.23 billion.

CEO Ryan Cohen stands as GameStop's largest shareholder, with 12.1% ownership via RC Ventures LLC, and his investments have yielded an impressive 467.8% return over the past three years.

Other notable insiders comprise directors Nir Vinay Patel, who possesses roughly 1 million shares, Alan Attal, holding 553,692 shares, and Larry Cheng, with ownership of around 55,088 shares. It's noteworthy that the latter two increased their shareholdings through additional purchases in both June and September.

Direct Registration System (DRS)

A distinctive feature of GameStop's ownership structure is the utilization of the Direct Registration System (DRS) through GameStop's transfer agent, Computershare. This unique custody method empowers investors to maintain ownership of their shares independently, bypassing the need for a brokerage or bank intermediary. Instead of holding shares in the broker's name (commonly referred to as "street name"), investors opt to register their shares under their own names.

This arrangement offers shareholders enhanced control over their stock holdings and provides a protective shield against the lending of shares to short sellers, a practice which transfer agents, in contrast to brokers, are unable to partake in.

In its second-quarter filing, GameStop reiterated the importance of disclosing the shares held by the transfer agent, stating:

"As of August 31, 2023, our Class A common stock had approximately 305,241,294 shares outstanding. Out of these outstanding shares, approximately 229.8 million were in the custody of Cede & Co. on behalf of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (comprising roughly 75% of our outstanding shares). Additionally, approximately 75.4 million shares of our Class A common stock were under the ownership of registered holders through our transfer agent (equating to approximately 25% of our outstanding shares) as of August 31, 2023."