Rachel Tongue, Games Workshop’s current Chief Financial Officer, has sold roughly $875,000 of her share holdings in the firm, according to a share dealing notification Games Workshop published on Monday. Tongue has already announced her intention to leave the firm behind Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Age of Sigmar: she will step down from her executive position at the 2024 AGM, and plans to depart in January 2025.
Tongue joined the Warhammer 40k manufacturer in September 1996 as group tax manager, two years after the firm was first listed on the London Stock Exchange. For the last nine years she has been part of the firm’s board of directors, first as group finance director and since 2022 as chief financial officer. Her intention to retire was revealed in the firm’s half year report, published in January this year.
According to the share dealing notification, Tongue sold 7,500 shares on April 19, at an average value of $117 (£94.893) per share, netting her $879,000 (£711,697.50). She still holds 3,691 shares, almost exactly one third of her original holdings.
What does this mean for Games Workshop? Most likely, nothing. The simplest explanation for Tongue’s sale is that she wants to get a big pay out that could go into her next venture, or retirement. Games Workshop’s share price oscillated from $2 to $10 for almost all of the company’s existence, until its incredible growth began in 2016. Tongue will have made a massive return on any investment, and may also have received shares as executive compensation.
If you’re interested in Games Workshop’s financial health, as well as all the regular Warhammer 40k news, Wargamer makes a point of digesting the company’s financial reports. We expect to see full year results from GW in July.
An ongoing area of concern and development for the firm is its legacy IT infrastructure, and its ability to keep up with demand – it will be interesting to see if continuing high levels of demand have advanced GW’s investigations into a potential fourth factory.