NEW YORK, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Kohl's Corp. has fired its chief executive officer after the board found that he directed the company to do millions of dollars of business with someone he had a personal relationship with on "highly unusual terms."
The company said it is starting a search to find a permanent replacement following the departure of Ashley Buchanan and that Chairman Michael Bender would serve as interim CEO, according to a statement.
"Buchanan's termination follows an outside investigation overseen by the board's audit committee," reported Bloomberg News on Thursday about the move. The probe determined that Buchanan "had directed that the company conduct business with a vendor founded by an individual with whom Mr. Buchanan has a personal relationship on highly unusual terms favorable to the vendor."
The board found that Buchanan pushed the company to enter into a multi-million dollar consulting agreement wherein the same individual was a part of the consulting team. It also found that in neither case did Buchanan disclose this relationship as required under company's code of ethics.
"The abrupt change adds more pressure to a retail business that's struggled for years, posting 12 straight quarters of revenue declines," noted the report. ■
