![]() ![]() And so on.Īll of this has begun to happen at Bed Bath & Beyond.Ī pre-earnings investor call to outline a turnaround strategy, as seen last week, isn't normal. Shareholder lawsuits pop up from investors who lost a ton of money. Speculation surfaces on a need to raise cash on penalizing terms. A quarter is missed by 30 cents, the stock price crashes, analysts hammer the company and say the future looks bleak for whatever reason. When companies unravel (usually after a period of bad financial performance), strange things often happen in sequence. ![]() Mistakes will be made because companies aren't run by robots (at least not yet).Īside from the tragedy, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up part two.Ī shopper makes her way through the aisle of Bed, Bath, and Beyond in New York, June 23, 2010. But as an investor, you have to remember these are the imperfect humans running companies that you have invested in. It's especially hard for us on the outside to figure out executives at public companies, as they tend to play by the book. We don't know what's going on in a person's mind and heart. Indeed, Arnal's recent job was a full on pressure cooker: He had to deal with a struggling retailer burning through cash, wild swings in the stock price in this meme trader driven backdrop, vile threads on social media, and the actions of influential shareholder Ryan Cohen.Īrnal dealt with stressful high-profile executive positions for decades, which adds up and takes a toll physically, mentally, and emotionally- however tough and smiley one appears to be on the outside. And to that end, you just never know what a person is dealing with inside. I think Bed Bath & Beyond interim CEO Sue Gove keeping Arnal on as CFO after Tritton was ousted and allowing him to present to investors last Wednesday says a lot on how he was viewed internally by the executive team, board, and his own finance team.īut as one former CEO told me while discussing this tragedy, C-suite jobs are high pressure and full of loneliness. ![]() Having talked to these people and others, what happened does seem out of character for Arnal. The company put out a statement saying they are "profoundly saddened by this shocking loss." Someone who worked with Arnal at Bed Bath & Beyond told me they were "shocked" at the news and that it made "no sense."īed Bath & Beyond communications chief Julie Strider didn't return my request for comment. "He was a really good guy, well-liked, straight 'up-the-middle' kind of guy," the person said. He was a very smart 'work hard play hard' man, always ready to share his energy and smiles with the people around him, both in the office and outside."Īnother former coworker at P&G echoed that sentiment to me via email. "Our memory of Gustavo is of a great professional and a happy family man, very devoted to his lovely family," one former colleague at P&G told me. If he were able to save Bed Bath & Beyond, it would have likely put him on a CEO track. Suffice it to say, landing the CFO job at Bed Bath & Beyond was the highest-ranking position in his career. Arnal's LinkedIn page was deleted on Monday. Myself and others just had listened to Arnal on a conference call Wednesday where Bed Bath & Beyond outlined its near-term turnaround strategy.Īrnal was an early hire of former Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Mark Tritton in 2020, having risen the executive ranks in finance capacities at P&G, Walgreens, and Avon. Reports say he jumped from the 18th floor. So what I have for you essentially boils down into two parts.Īrnal, 52, fell to his death from the New York City skyscraper known as the "Jenga" tower on Friday afternoon. I'd argue that a few outfits aren't doing that, instead playing up Arnal's stock sales in August and the fact he signed off on 150 store closures last week. ![]() That comes with the territory of being a journalist since it's what we signed up to do: hold truth to power.Īt the same time, a family man took their own life and that must be handled by a journalist with great care. I've been critical of how Bed Bath & Beyond has been run and blunt about what lays ahead for the home goods retailer. I didn't really discover a comfortable answer. I spent Labor Day weekend reflecting deeply on how I wanted to approach reporting on the suicide of Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Gustavo Arnal. Today's newsletter is by Brian Sozzi, an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |