Bed Bath & Beyond CFO’s wife was in 18th-floor NYC apartment when he jumped to his death without uttering a word.
Gustavo Arnal, 52, Bed Bath & Beyond’s CFO, killed himself on Friday without telling his wife.
He didn’t leave a note explaining why he leaped from the 18th floor of the ‘Jenga’ skyscraper in lower Manhattan’s Tribeca area. But he was named in a lawsuit claiming he illegally boosted share prices just one week before his death.
The lawsuit claims a majority shareholder approached Arnal about controlling company shares to profit together.
It claims he made’materially false representations’ to artificially boost share values.
Arnal’s wife and two adult daughters survive him.
Friday, a Bed Bath & Beyond executive committed suicide in his wife’s New York City residence.
Gustavo Arnal, 52, the company’s CFO, took his own life on Friday without telling his wife, Alexandra Cadenas-Arnal.
The New York Post reports he left no note explaining why he leapt from the 18th story of the ‘Jenga’ tower in Tribeca on Friday.
Arnal’s wife, Alexandra, and two adult daughters survive him.
They were seen Sunday leaving their luxurious apartment to make funeral arrangements.
The doorman told his tearful wife, ‘I’m very sorry,’ as the family approached a dark SUV, the Post writes.
Gustavo Arnal, 52, was sued a week before he died for allegedly inflating Bed Bath & Beyond shares.
Arnal is charged of deceiving the public to boost share prices. Family photo
Arnal leaped from a 57-story building in Tribeca, Manhattan, on Friday.
Friday about 12:30pm, authorities were called to 56 Leonard Street near Church Street.
The New York Post identified Arnal as the jumper at the 57-story skyscraper on Friday.
The city’s EMS was spotted transporting the man’s body in a black body bag.
Unidentified second individual hospitalized with minor injuries, FDNY says.
A woman was seen appearing disturbed and crying near the building before eventually entering the ambulance.
FDNY couldn’t confirm the patient’s age or gender.
Arnal fell from the Jenga building in Tribeca, Manhattan (pictured)
His death hit the chain hard.
One week before his death, Arnal was listed as one of the defendants in a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders who say they lost $1.2billion in a ‘pump and dump’ operation.
The August 23 lawsuit claims Cohen approached Arnal about controlling Bed Bath & Beyond shares to profit together.
As part of the scheme, the lawsuit claims, Arnal ‘committed to regulate all insider sales by BBBY’s officials and directors’
He allegedly made’materially deceptive statements to investors about BBBY’s strategic company plans, financial position, and share holdings and sales’ to boost share prices.
According to MarketBeat.com, Arnal sold 42,000 shares of the company two weeks ago for $1 million.
EMS staff were spotted transporting the man’s body in a black bodybag.
Unidentified male was pronounced deceased at the spot.
Pengcheng Si of Virginia sued on behalf of all Bed Bath & Beyond stock buyers between March 25 and August 18.
They are seeking damages for the alleged ‘pump and dump’ plan, saying Cohen offered to buy a major share in the company, including call options on more than 1.6 million hares for $60 to $80.
Arnal allegedly agreed to prevent insiders from flooding the market with stock.
He did so by making’materially deceptive statements and omissions’ regarding the company’s finances, the suit states.
‘Through mid-August 2022, BBBY appeared to be a successful turnaround company,’ it claims.
Arnal ‘blatantly misrepresented the value and profitability of [the company], forcing BBBY to record false revenues [and] announce publicly that the company is spinning off Buybuy Baby to ‘unlock full value’ of this ‘tremendous asset.’
The lawsuit claims Buybuy Baby was struggling financially.
Unidentified second individual hospitalized with minor injuries, FDNY says. Unknown
Friday, a guy jumped to his death, according to police.
On August 16, Cohen told the SEC he held 9,450,100 shares, including 1,670,100 call options.
It also said he held onto April call options that wouldn’t pay off until the price hit $60 before 2023.
The lawsuit claims he was given three board seats soon after selling most of his stock.
The lawsuit claims Cohen’submitted [the paper] to create a BBBY purchasing frenzy so he could sell his shares at an inflated price.’
The lawsuit claims stocks surged 75% that day.
Unbeknownst to shareholders, Cohen allegedly filed a paperwork that day indicating his desire to sell his remaining shares and call options.
It wasn’t revealed until the next day, when shares fell from $30 to $22.50.
The stock fell 45 percent when Arnal and Cohen reported selling all their shares on August 16.
It fell to $8.78 on August 23, down 70% from its $30 high. Bed Bath & Beyond traded at $8.63 on September 4.
According to a federal lawsuit, majority shareholder Ryan Cohen approached Arnal about a ‘pump and dump’ plot.
By September 2, the once-$30-a-share firm was trading at $8.63.
As CFO, Arnal allegedly knew about Cohen’s phony SEC filings.
It also claims they discussed their departure strategy with JP Morgan Securities LLC.
Jake Freeman, 20, got $110 million by selling all of his Bed Bath and Beyond stock on Tuesday, nearly a month after buying five million shares at $5.50 each.
It alleges they acted’selfishly, improperly, and in bad faith’ to profit from the sale of their BBBY shares and ‘violated their fiduciary obligation by making fraudulent filings, giving deceptive representations, and pumping and dumping BBY shares.’
The lawsuit says JP Morgan Securities helped launder $110 million in illicit insider trading profits.
Bed Bath and Beyond hasn’t commented.
Arnal’s stock dump happened the same day a 20-year-old college student gained $110million by selling all of his Bed Bath and Beyond stock. He did so shortly before the retailer’s stock price dropped 23% after its second-biggest stakeholder announced plans to sell his whole ownership.
Jake Freeman, a USC applied math and economics major, spent $25 million in Bed Bath & Beyond in July with the support of his pharmaceutical mogul uncle.
As a result, he owns about 6% of America’s leading houseware goods specialty stores, the latest faltering business to see its value jump because to the ongoing’meme stock’ bubble.
Amateur investors buy stock in past-their-prime corporations, driving up the share price and making some lucky stockholders millions of dollars.
Freeman, whose family lives in New York City, sold $130 million worth of stock on August 16 after the retailer’s stock price soared to $27 a share.
The chain is abandoning private-label products to boost its economics.
As sales fall by a quarter, Bed Bath & Beyond will close 150 shops and lay off 20% of staff.
Bed Bath & Beyond announced layoffs last month as high inflation and a weak economy hit US companies.
Bed Bath & Beyond, a Reddit meme-stock favourite, will liquidate 150 of its 900 shops and lay off 20% of corporate and supply chain personnel.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s temporary CEO is Sue Gove.
Once a ‘category killer’ in home and bath items, the big-box chain’s CEO was ousted in June after first-quarter sales plummeted 25%.
Independent board director Sue Gove replaced him temporarily.
Gove claimed the store had’significant positive momentum’ and planned to build on its ‘strong retail tradition.’
‘While there is more work ahead, our road map is clear and we’re optimistic that the big adjustments we’ve outlined today will improve our performance,’ she said.
High inflation and a weak economy hurt the company.
Two days before Arnal’s murder, executives revealed intentions to liquidate 150 outlets and lay off 20% of personnel.
Mark Tritton was sacked in June after first-quarter sales plummeted 25%. Sue Gove, an independent board director, has subsequently replaced him temporary.
She added the business is ‘continue to see excellent progress’ and plans to build on its ‘strong retail tradition.’
‘While there is more work ahead, our road map is clear and we’re optimistic that the big adjustments we’ve outlined today will improve our performance,’ she said.
The retailer also revealed a proposal to issue additional shares and stated it had received $500 million in new financing, but investors were unimpressed, and shares plunged as much as 25% in morning trading.
WallStreetBets traders, who had been bullish on the stock, reacted with stoicism and misery.
I wanted easy money. Why must I suffer? why?’ forum user:
Bed Bath & Beyond anticipated a bigger-than-expected 26% drop in same-store sales for the second quarter and announced it will keep buybuy Baby.
Bed Bath & Beyond, once known for 20%-off coupons, now focuses on private-label products like Our Table cookware.
The chain is dropping three of its own label brands and reprioritizing national names, including Calphalon, Ugg, Dyson, and Cuisinart, executives said.
Bed Bath & Beyond is slashing 20% of its corporate and supply chain personnel and removing the COO and CSO posts. It has 32,000 employees.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel warned staff in a memo Wednesday that ad sales weren’t meeting predictions and revealed plans to reorganize and slash 20% of the company’s 5,600 employees.
Given our slower sales growth, it’s evident we must reduce our cost structure to avert continuous losses, Spiegel stated.
Snap will stop down ambitious projects like mobile games and a flying drone camera to save $500 million annually.
Snap shares rose 15% in morning trading on the news.
Spiegel said Snap was focussing on community, revenue, and augmented reality.
Anything that doesn’t contribute ‘will be abandoned or given much reduced funding,’ Spiegel added.