By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 24th, 2023
The shares of Bed Bath & Beyond have been considered a meme stock in the past year, and the company said it was selling some of its stock last month to finance some of its core operations.
Last Friday was a very dark day for the American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ: BBBY) as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Gustavo Arnal, jumped from the 18th floor of the iconic “Jenga” skyscraper in Manhattan, a fall he did not survive.
Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Committed Suicide
According to the report from the medical examiner, Arnal died by suicide, a verdict that has raised a lot of questions on Wall Street. Despite the distress perceived that made Arnal commit suicide, Bed Bath & Beyond considers him to be a pivotal figure in helping the firm stir its affairs during the coronavirus pandemic.
“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,” said Harriet Edelman, Independent Chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Board of Directors. “Our focus is on supporting his family and his team and our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time. Please join us in respecting the family’s privacy.”
Prior to his death, Arnal had a very successful career in the financial sector and had a sojourn with Avon, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Procter & Gamble. Besides steering the affairs of Bed Bath & Beyond when he joined in 2020, he was also instrumental in building a strong team for the firm, while helping to transform its overall financial outlook.
The Pump and Dump Scheme Probe
While not confirmed yet, a report from Fortune revealed that Arnal was under investigation as being complicit in a ‘Pump and Dump’ scheme alongside star investor, Ryan Cohen.
The allegations were contained in a Class Action lawsuit that was filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit names Pengcheng Si as the lead Plaintiff and the company said it was in the early stages of evaluating the complaint.
The lawsuit alleged that Cohen approached Arnal for them to control the trading of the company’s shares in a way that both of them will make a tremendous amount of money.
“With control over a significant portion of the public float, Cohen would essentially act as a price support for the stock while Gustavo would act in a similar capacity by controlling the sale of shares by Insiders,” the lawsuit states, according to Fox Business. “Under this arrangement, defendants would profit handsomely from the rise in price and could coordinate their selling of shares to optimize their returns.”
The shares of Bed Bath & Beyond have been considered a meme stock in the past year, and the company said it was selling some of its stock last month to finance some of its core operations.
