Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) confirmed the death of its chief financial officer and executive vice president, Gustavo Arnal in a brief statement on Sunday, calling it a "shocking loss".
News reports over the weekend had said Arnal, who was 52 years old, fell to his death from a skyscraper known as the 'Jenga' tower in New York's Tribeca district on Friday afternoon, according to police. His death comes days after the struggling retailer announced it was closing stores and laying off workers.
Reuters reported that at 12.30pm ET on Friday, September 2, 2022, New York City police responded to a 911 call and found a man dead near the building who had suffered injuries from a fall. The police statement did not provide further details on the circumstances leading to Arnal's death and said the New York City Medical Examiner's Office would determine the cause of death, Reuters added.
READ: Bed Bath & Beyond plunges as it announces raft of measures, including store closures, job cuts and a stock offering
In the company's statement, Harriet Edelman, independent chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond board of directors said: "I wish to extend our sincerest condolences to Gustavo's family. Gustavo will be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent and stewardship of our company. I am proud to have been his colleague, and he will be truly missed by all of us at Bed Bath & Beyond and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him."
The company noted that Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond in May 2020 following a distinguished global career in finance at Avon, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Proctor & Gamble, It added that Arnal was "instrumental in guiding the organization throughout the coronavirus pandemic, transforming the company's financial foundation and building a strong and talented team."
Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond said it would close 150 stores, cut jobs and overhaul its merchandising strategy in an attempt to turn around its money-losing business.
The moves came as the struggling retailer reported a bigger-than-expected 26% slump in same-store sales for the second quarter and said it would retain its buybuy Baby business, which it had put up for sale.
On August 23, it was revealed that the company, Arnal and major shareholder Ryan Cohen were being sued over accusations of artificially inflating the firm's stock price in a so-called 'pump and dump' scheme, with the lawsuit alleging Arnal sold off shares at a higher price after the scheme.
The class action lawsuit listed Arnal as one of the defendants and was brought by a group of shareholders who claimed they lost around $1.2 billion.
Shares in Bed Bath & Beyond have been highly volatile in recent months, being viewed as a so-called 'meme' stock, which trade more on social media sentiment than economic fundamentals.
Cohen, a billionaire investor, revealed a stake of nearly 10% in Bed Bath and Beyond in early March 2022, and on August 17, his RC Ventures vehicle disclosed plans to sell its stake.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com