Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick's management style: No chief of staff, no 'toxic' discretionary pay programs

Take-Two Interactive CEO and chairman Strauss Zelnick speaking at Business Insider's The Long Play in New York on October 29, 2026. Carl Timpone/BFA

Strauss Zelnick is relentlessly focused on making "the best entertainment on earth." There's no confusion about that mission among his employees, he said.

"I have 13,000 colleagues," the Take-Two Interactive CEO said at Business Insider's The Long Play event in New York City on Thursday. "100% of them can and will tell you exactly what I just said."

His management philosophy — "establish a mission, establish a strategy, and promulgate collective culture" — is about to get its biggest test in years.

Take-Two is the publisher behind popular games like "Red Dead Redemption" and "NBA 2K," and, on November 19, they'll launch a new " Grand Theft Auto.…