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    Best Buy hires new CEO as takeover talks stall

    Best Buy hires new CEO as takeover talks stall

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    Retail giant Best Buy has named Hubert Joly, a Frenchman with a record of turning around struggling companies' finances, as CEO, while its board has said its founder and former Chairman Richard Schulze has turned down an offer of due diligence as part of ongoing talks regarding a takeover.

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    Best Buy store nyc (STOCK)
    Best Buy store nyc (STOCK)

    Struggling retailer Best Buy has named Hubert Joly as its new CEO. Joly, who unexpectedly left his position as chief executive of hospitality giant Carlson yesterday, has a good track record of helping to steer companies away from the red in his native France, and will join the company in early September. The hire comes amidst talk of a takeover by founder and former chairman Richard Schulze, who resigned as chairman of the company after a scandal involving its former CEO Brian Dunn. After publicly stating he intended to purchase his old company with the help of private investors, Schulze has, according to Best Buy, turned down an offer of due diligence from the company's board. The offer would've had Schulze agree to "certain protections for Best Buy and its shareholders" in exchange for access to the company's non-public finances, with the goal of "limiting outside distractions."

    According to Reuters, however, Schulze's team was "shocked" by Best Buy's claims that it had turned down the offer, as it had the impression that talks were still ongoing. Given Schulze's recent statements, it seems likely that he will continue to pursue a takeover of the company he founded way back in 1966, then called Sound of Music.