Bed Bath & Beyond EVP and CFO Gustavo Arnal died on Sept. 2, 2022 after falling from his balcony. The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office has reportedly confirmed his death as a suicide, according to CNBC and Reuters. The retailer has named SVP and Chief Accounting Officer Laura Crossen as Interim CFO, according to a regulatory filing.
Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond in May 2020 alongside three other C-level leaders. His prior experience included 20 years in financial roles, most recently as CFO at Avon. He also served as CFO, International Divisions and Global Functions at Walgreens Boots Alliance and previously held multiple senior positions at Procter & Gamble.
“I wish to extend our sincerest condolences to Gustavo’s family,” said Harriet Edelman, Independent Chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond Board of Directors in a statement. “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. Our focus is on supporting his family and his team and our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time.”
Arnal’s death came two weeks after reports that Bed Bath & Beyond had secured a $375 million loan to increase liquidity, and several days after the struggling retailer announced that it would shutter 150 lower-producing stores and cut its workforce by approximately 20% across the corporate and supply chain divisions. The cuts were part of a plan to reduce SG&A (selling, general and administrative) expenses by $250 million in fiscal 2022 following a comp store sales decline of 26% for the quarter that ended Aug. 27, 2022.
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Bed Bath & Beyond’s share price was down more than 15% on the morning of Sept. 6 in response to the news of Arnal’s death.
