Kohl’s fires new CEO Ashley Buchanan for steering business to former romantic partner
Kohl’s canned its newly hired chief executive after an investigation showed he had cut a “highly unusal” business deal with a woman who had been his romantic partner, according to a report.
Ashley Buchanan — hired just four months ago — directed Kohl’s to “engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest,” the company said on Thursday.
Specifically, the conflicts involved Buchanan’s relationship with Chandra Holt, a former colleague at Walmart, according to a .
Buchanan directed the company to do business with a vendor founded by an individual to whom he had ties, according to a Thursday securities filing which didn’t disclose the name of the vendor.
The vendor, who according to the Journal was Holt, signed a multimillion-dollar consulting agreement with Kohl’s with unusually favorable terms, according to the
Holt is founder and CEO of Incredibrew, a coffee brand infused with vitamins and minerals, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Buchanan and Holt rose through the ranks at Walmart before leaving around the same time for other positions at Texas-based retailers. Buchanan left in early 2020 to become CEO of Michaels. Holt left in 2021 to become CEO of Conn’s HomePlus.
Holt in 2023 became CEO of Beyond Inc. — the company that owns Overstock.com and Bed Bath & Beyond — where she led the company for a year.
Kohl’s named board member Michael Bender as interim CEO effective immediately.
Bender has served as a director since July 2019 and was appointed board chair in May 2024.
Kohl’s shares are up by nearly 6% to $7.09 on the news.
Kohl’s audit committee oversaw an investigation that found Buchanan had not disclosed the vendor relationships, which were deemed inappropriate and for which he was fired for cause.
Buchanan will forfeit all equity awards he received from the company and be required to reimburse Kohl’s on a pro-rated basis for a signing award worth $2.5 million, according to securities filings.
Kohl’s said Buchanan’s termination had no bearing on the company’s financial performance as the company released preliminary financial results for the first quarter showing that comparable sales will be down by between 4% and 4.3%.
The budget department store based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., has had three CEOs over the past three years as it struggles to stanch declining sales.
Buchanan followed Tom Kingsubury, who lasted less than two years on the job after succeeding Michelle Gass, who left Kohl’s for Levi’s.
