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Kohl’s romantic CEO, Meta’s pony tail fetish, CEO pay confusion, and Goldman hates the word “black”
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DAMION1
Kohl’s CEO Fired for Funneling Business to Romantic Partner 10
Kohl’s boss Ashley Buchanan tried to funnel business to a romantic partner and lost his job. It wasn’t the first time their personal and professional lives had crossed.
Kohl’s fired Buchanan on Thursday after it discovered he had instructed the retailer to enter into a “highly unusual” business deal involving a woman with whom he has a romantic relationship, according to people familiar with the situation. The pair currently live together in an upscale golf community in the suburbs of Dallas.
Buchanan met the woman, Chandra Holt, when they were both working at Walmart several years ago, the people said. His divorce proceedings show the two had a romantic relationship while he was the CEO of Michaels. The arts-and-crafts chain also tried to hire Holt during his tenure.
A Kohl’s board investigation by outside lawyers found that Buchanan violated the company’s code of conduct in two instances with a vendor with whom he had a personal relationship and whom it didn’t name, according to a regulatory filing. The filing said he directed the retailer to conduct business with a vendor founded by this person “on highly unusual terms,” and he caused the company to enter into a multimillion-dollar consulting agreement, where that person was part of the consulting team.
On Thursday, Kohl’s appointed Chairman Michael Bender as its interim CEO. He becomes the fourth CEO in three years at the department-store chain, which has been struggling with slumping sales.
Nominating Committee:
John E. Schlifske* (2011; 6%)
Michael J. Bender (2019; 18%)
Robbin Mitchell (2021; 7%)
Adrianne Shapira (2016; 6%)
Even CEOs sometimes get the 'you're fired' treatment 11
Great, nobody understands corporate governance
Meta exec apologizes to conservative activist Robby Starbuck
Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, has issued a public apology to conservative influencer Robby Starbuck after Starbuck filed a lawsuit alleging that Meta’s artificial intelligence chatbot produced responses containing false and defamatory information about him.
“Robby — I watched your vid