Strauss Zelnick
Take-Two's chairman and CEO via ZelnickMedia, the most-quoted voice on GTA 6's date, marketing and pricing through 2026.
- Role
- Chairman and CEO, Take-Two Interactive
- Management company
- ZelnickMedia (ZMC)
- FY2026 ZMC fees
- $66,818,000 (total to ZMC)
- Maximum personal eligibility
- $40,493,819 (per proxy)
- Release-date stance
- November 19, 2026, repeatedly reaffirmed
Strauss Zelnick is chairman and chief executive of Take-Two Interactive, a role he holds through a management agreement with ZelnickMedia. Through 2026 he has been the company's most-quoted voice on Grand Theft Auto VI.
On the date and platforms
"We've been really clear that we're releasing the title on November 19," he said on the May 21, 2026 earnings call, and in mid-June he reconfirmed the date again in a TikTok street-interview clip, adding that Rockstar "really does seek to do something that's never been done before. That's really hard, and it takes a lot of time." On the console-first launch: "Rockstar always starts on console because I think with regard to a release like that you're judged by serving the core." When a supposed Best Buy pre-order leak circulated in May 2026, he dismissed it directly: "It won't be happening this week. I don't know where that came from."
On marketing
Zelnick has described a short, intense, digital-first campaign, saying "we won't be buying a lot of network television" this time, a deliberate contrast with GTA V's near two-year push, and projecting a "very significant broad based marketing campaign that reflects where audiences and attention is today". See Trailer 3 for how the campaign has unfolded.
Compensation disclosures
Take-Two's fiscal 2026 proxy reports total fees paid to ZelnickMedia of $66,818,000, of which the maximum portion attributable to Zelnick was $40,090,800, for a total maximum eligible amount of $40,493,819 including company compensation. His Summary Compensation Table total was $403,019 against a median employee figure of $86,683, and the filing presents two pay ratios, 4.65 to 1 and 467.15 to 1, depending on the basis used; the company discloses both, reflecting that his pay flows substantially through the management agreement rather than company payroll.