Finance
Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Falls To Death After Company Declares Huge Closures And Layoffs
The retail chain plans to shut down 150 of its over 700 stores and lay off 20% of its 32,000 employees.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief financial officer, Gustavo Arnal, took his own life by falling from the downtown Manhattan luxury skyscraper where he lived. His death comes days after the retail chain declared it would shut down about 150 of its over 700 namesake stores and lay off about 20% of its 32,000 employees.
The company’s stock recently fell more than 21% and 65% in the past year, per The Associated Press.
The 52-Year-Old, as alleged by New York’s medical examiner, died from blunt trauma injuries due to the fall from the elevated position. According to Police, Arnal was a resident of 56 Leonard Street, and the 60-story tower he fell from is named the ‘Jenga Building’ due to its misaligned apartments, which gives an appearance of the block stacking game.
According to his biography on the Bed Bath & Beyond website, Arnal held executive roles at the beauty-product company Avon, Procter & Gamble, and the drugstore chain Walgreens. His LinkedIn page also noted he had an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Universidad Simon Bolivar and a master’s degree in finance from the Universidad Metropolitana, both in Venezuela.
As CFO of Bed Bath & Beyond in 2021, Arnal [pictured with his family] took a home of $2.9million, $775K in salary, and the rest in stock awards.
Last month, he had sold over 42,500 shares of company stock worth over a million dollars, per the website MarketBeat. However, a statement from the retailer has said this shocking loss profoundly saddens the ‘entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. organization and that Arnal was an esteemed college in the financial community. They added: “Mr. Arnal was instrumental in guiding the organization throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming the company’s financial foundation and building a strong and talented team.”
The independent chair of the company’s board of directors, Harriet Edelman, said Arnal would be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent, and stewardship of the company. She added: “I am proud to have been his college, and he will be truly missed by all of us at Bed Bath & Beyond and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.”
Notably, Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock took a major hit after an influential investor sold all his almost 7.8million shares. Currently, the company is searching for a permanent chief executive offer after former CEO Mark Tritton was ousted in June after less than three years on the job. On the other hand, the company is reportedly focused on supporting Arnal’s family.
