TL;DR up top: RC may have recently emerged from a possible health crisis, with a renewed impetus to cement his legacy & seize the day, ready to commence with his plans.

Please poke holes in this theory. I hope RC hasn't had a crisis, but it may explain some things. If true, he appears to be on the mend so my stance remains optimistic & bullish regarding GME & all possible ventures of RC.

Everyone was commenting on reddit that something is off about Pulte's original pic; that RC almost looked fake, and without hands/fingers showing perhaps it was AI-generated. I agree, something is off. My first reaction: I've seen this look before. I brushed off the initial pessimism and began to assess it rationally.

• Unanimous observation that he appears thinner
• Receded hair line
• Heterochromia (right eye blue, left brown), but may be lense flare.
• This is the first image of him we've seen since November 20, 2022 when he did his GMEDD interview.
• RC pump & dump case continually delayed since July of 2023. Objectively baseless, this should've been dismissed late last year but the wheels of justice are turning inexplicably slowly.

Unfortunately I've seen the effects of chemo on one's skin. It can give faces a grey-ish "uncanny valley" wax-statue look, with darker leathery skin in the extremities. This was my first impression of RC's face - that he's recovering from chemotherapy. Let's break down the other observations:

• Thin. Granted, he's not an inherently bulky guy, but compared to his previous appearances he looks like he just returned from a Mexican ayahuasca retreat where he fasted in a sweat lodge for a few weeks. If he actually did, lets hope the experience has granted him the mental clarity and revelations he was seeking.
• Receding hair line can be accelerated by biologic stressors, but this could also be genetic factors, shorter hair accentuation, and the fact that we haven't seen him in 466 days
• Heterochromia: one of his eyes looks blue-ish. This may be due to camera lens flare, but I'm uncertain it'd have this effect on rendering the contrast of an eyeball. Perhaps photographers or those familiar with image processing can chime in. Regardless, heterochromia is a known effect of chemotherapy.
• Not that it's expected, but his hands are hidden in each picture. Is this deliberate? The effects of chemo can be very pronounced in hands, making them look dark and leathery.

This is conjecture on top of speculation, but consider these points as well:

• In the GMEDD interview, RC said he doesn't want to ever be CEO again. He gets too absorbed into the job and it destroys his work-life balance. We may be witnessing the physical toll of being the CEO of Gamestop. With his wealth he has the option of never stressing about anything, ever again. Instead, he has chosen to see the mission through & help secure our investments. For that, I am extremely grateful. If he took on that role while also undergoing treatment... I cannot fathom.
  • I'm still dismayed he took on the CEO role. My only interpretation is that it is a temporary gambit due to imminent M&A.
• The P&D class action against him has been dragging on forever. The claim is baseless and holds even less (approaching log 0?) merit considering the shares were extinguished AND he never exceeded the 10% threshold, considering options don't equate to ownership & stock buy-backs, likely fraudulent, were a contributing factor. Yet the judge continues to delay the case, month after month. Could it be the delays were at RC's request due to his health? If so, perhaps the next court date won't be delayed, finally?

Not to be dismissed as shillery, I think the leap day pictures indicate optimism - he's likely on the mend. The fact that he has hair, albeit short, and is in the presence of others in public (not in isolation) bodes well to this speculative prognosis - chemo nukes your immune system and, much like AIDS, a common cold could become life-threatening. His hair is also short; chemo doesn't always result in hair loss, but his short hair could indicate a recent re-emergence of hair follicle growth.

TL;DR up top: RC may have recently emerged from a possible health crisis, with a renewed impetus to cement his legacy & seize the day, ready to commence with his plans.

...or I may be a moron who watched too much Dr. House, MD back in the day.