A man who fell to his death from a New York high-rise on Friday has been identified as Gustavo Arnal, chief financial officer of troubled home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond.
The company confirmed his death on Sunday. The New York Police Department said the 52-year-old unresponsive man was found at the Tribeca Tower in lower Manhattan and was pronounced dead at the scene. They did not comment further.
Arnal joins the retailer in 2020 from cosmetics brand Avon. Previously, he held executive roles at Walgreens Boots Alliance and Procter & Gamble.
Harriet Edelman, the company’s independent chairman of the board, said: “The entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. deeply saddened by this shocking loss.
“I’m proud to have been his colleague, and he will be truly missed by all of us at Bed Bath & Beyond and all those who were delighted to know him.”
The company has been struggling for a while with poor sales and inflated debts. Housewares retailer toppled Mark Tritton, the company’s chief executive officer, in June following a dismal earnings report that showed soaring quarterly losses and rapidly draining cash on its balance sheet. The company blamed weak consumer demand and said slow arrivals of orders had led to a build-up of inventory.
Active Investor Ryan Cohen pushed for a boardroom change and the sale of Bed Bath & Beyond’s baby products business after becoming one of the business’s largest shareholders earlier this year.
However, Cohen later sold his entire stake in the business in mid-August, causing the stock to plummet. In the past 12 months, its shares have fallen by two-thirds.
At the same time, Arnal sold 55,013 shares of the company, Reuters reported on Sunday based on SEC filings.
The company unveiled a turnaround plan last week, designed to improve its balance sheet and spur growth, including $500 million in new financing, 150 store closures, job cuts, and more. made and a revamped brand lineup. It has also filed to sell up to 12 million shares, with the proceeds set aside in part to pay off debt.
Interim CEO Sue Gove said the plan represents a “simple philosophy, from the ground up” that will drive growth.
“We are working fast and hard to increase our liquidity and secure our way into the future,” she said at the time.
Bed Bath & Beyond also said comparable sales – a common indicator in the industry – fell 26% in the second quarter from a year earlier. It expected the overall figure for the year to be down about 20%, based on improvements in the second half of the year.
The company’s shares fell more than 30% following the announcement of the plan on Wednesday.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s financial troubles were overshadowed for much of the summer by severe volatility in the company’s share price due to the return of stock memes Trading trends started in the early days of the pandemic.
Demand from retail traders helped push Bed Bath & Beyond shares as high as $23.08 in August, a move that reversed after Cohen pulled out. Shares closed at $8.63 on Friday.
Arnal’s death was first reported by the New York Post.
