Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief financial officer has been identified as the man who fell to his death from a skyscraper weeks after selling around 42,000 shares of the retailer for $1 million.
Gustavo Arnal, 52, who was also executive vice president of the ailing home goods retailer, emerged from the 18th floor of a skyscraper known as the Jenga Building in iconic Tribeca on Friday, the New York Post learned Sunday.
The death comes days after Bed Bath & Beyond also announced plans to close around 150 stores and reduce the workforce by a fifth in a bid to revive its fortunes.
Police did not provide further details on the circumstances leading up to Mr Arnal’s death, but said the New York City Coroner’s Office is now determining the cause of death.
The businessman joined Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020 after serving as Avon’s Chief Financial Officer for over a year. Mr. Arnal held senior positions at Walgreens Boots Alliance and Procter & Gamble before joining the cosmetics company.
In mid-August, billionaire Ryan Cohen sold his stake in the company, raking in $68.1 million.
Just seven months after acquiring shares in the company, Ryan Cohen, who owned more than 10% of the shares in Bed Bath & Beyond, began selling his shares.
Ryan Cohen’s investment firm RC Ventures paid $121.2 million to purchase 7.78 million shares and options to purchase an additional $1.67 million between mid-January and early March. However, he parted ways for the sum of $189.3 million, according to a filing filed Thursday after the U.S. market close.
The New Jersey-based company is struggling with unmanageable debt, with its debt suffering the biggest drop since it announced its dismal financial results on June 29.