James poses with his new e-bike outside a GameStop store (GameStop)

One mother’s LinkedIn post inspired GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen to give a surprise gift to a new employee

The GameStop CEO gave James, a teenage employee an Irving, Texas, an e-bike so he could get to work easier.

9/16/25 10:31AM

Take a look at GameStop expense control in the Ryan Cohen era and you’d be forgiven for thinking he’s a leader singularly focused on putting the video games and collectibles retailer back on a path to sustained operational success. And on that front, he’s made massive progress: as of Q2, GameStop has strung together five consecutive quarters of positive operating cash flows for the first time in its history.

But it turns out the CEO has a bit of a soft spot for employees who go the extra mile. Or in this case, the extra two miles.

Mara Nichols gushed on LinkedIn about her teenage son James, a GameStop employee in Irving, Texas, who “walked 2 miles in pouring rain to work a 2 hour shift” in his first week on the job. A single mom, Mara said that James’ commitment to his new job made her proud of the lessons she’d instilled in her children.

“I never made any statements about doing such a thing. He was there when I walked in the rain to and from work. He was there when I showed up when others quit,” she wrote. “He is now at work showing me that my example made the lasting impact over my words.”

She probably could never have guessed who else would be inspired by her son’s example: Ryan Cohen.

“I saw the post and liked what his mother had to say so I contacted them,” said Cohen, who called James to thank him for his work ethic and told him he was giving him an e-bike to get to work easier.

“I was so surprised, and I thought it was a joke. I just couldn’t believe it!” James said in a message sent to Sherwood News. “This made me feel even better about working for GameStop. The atmosphere is so nostalgic for the memories I have had here growing up.”

James, who recently purchased a PS5, enjoys playing co-op games like “Gears of War” and “Borderlands” with his brother in his spare time.

Earlier this year, GameStop auctioned off items including a Nintendo Switch 2 that had been damaged when an employee punctured the screen by stapling the receipt to the box during early days of the console’s release — with the offer to add Cohen’s underwear to the collection, as well — for $250,000 to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

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