Bed Bath & Beyond CFO, 52, is identified as man who jumped to his death from 18th floor of NYC's 'Jenga' tower - two days after firm announced plans to lay off 20% of staff and close 150 stores

Daily Mail ^ | 9/04/22 | Stephen M. Lepore

[Libloather]

The man who jumped to his death from the 18th floor of the famous 'Jenga' tower in lower Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood Friday has been identified as a Bed Bath & Beyond executive.

Gustavo Arnal, 52, was the Chief Financial Officer of Bed Bath & Beyond, a company that has been going through struggles of late due to high inflation and a sagging economy. The company announced plans to close 150 stores, of its roughly 900, and lay off 20 percent of staff just two days before Arnal's death.

He reportedly sold over 42,000 shares in the company, oft-identified as a 'meme stock', for $1million just over two weeks ago, according to MarketBeat.com.

At the time, he still owned 267,896 shares in the company, valued at just under $6.5million.

Arnal moved to Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020 - when the company was already struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic - from London-based cosmetics giant Avon, where he was also CFO, and had spent 20 years at Proctor & Gamble.

When Arnal was brought to Bed Bath & Beyond in April 2020 a company spokesman said in a statement they were 'bringing in world class talent to offer new perspectives, expertise and experience as we rebuild our business.'

'Gustavo exemplifies this and his experience delivering business transformation at other leading companies, his deep knowledge of the retail and consumer goods space, as well as his energy and drive will help accelerate our transformation plans.'

Calls regarding the jump at 56 Leonard Street near Church Street came in at around 12:30pm Friday, according to a spokeswoman for the NYPD. Arnal was identified as the jumper at the 57-story building - where apartments go for up to $50million - on Friday afternoon, according to the New York Post.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

"Unless it achieves escape velocity."

He definitely escaped. I would argue he successfully achieved escape velocity.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

A bit drastic…

He may have been facing criminal charges for insider trading. In addition, he may have been facing shareholder lawsuits for making misleading statements, lawsuits that could ruin him many times over.

[EEGator]

I would either face the music or run, not kill myself.
If I did kill myself, it sure as hell wouldn’t be like that.
Obviously I can’t understand what was going through his mind though.

[JonPreston]

I'm going to go ahead and activate internet Automourn complete with feigned histrionics and a mini prayer circle.

[EEGator]

Are you the Muad’dib?

[TangoLimaSierra]

Too bad he didn’t have a bunch of My Pillows to land on.

Isn’t the “My Pillows” thing, what caused them problems, to begin with? Self made problems for sure.

Pretty sure that's what Wilderness Conservative was referring to.

[Brooklyn Attitude]

What a strangely written story that goes from the BB&B CFO jumping the Jenga bldg, to some unrelated guy who made money trading BB&B stock, then to the history of the Jenga building. Very disjointed.

[chuckee]

The guy is CFO. The company went broke. Put 2 and 2 together. investigation underway. Some of that Bed Bath and Beyond money may be in his bathtub.

[zeestephen]

Possibly facing accounting fraud issues?

From 2014 to 2020, the stock dropped from $80 to $5.

In 2020, it suddenly roared from $5 to almost $55 in twelve months.

The stock has had huge inexplicable volatility over the last nine months - from $30 to $5, then back to $30, now at $8.

I suspect the SEC, IRS, or FBI informed the CFO they wanted an interview.

During the interview, the feds would inform the CFO that the only way he can avoid heavy prison time is to testify against the senior executives and largest stock holders.

The only unanswered question - did the CFO go over the railing voluntarily?

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[EEGator]

He could move if he was canned…

[newzjunkey]

“Even with all of the evidence crackpot theories out there”

There I fixed that for you.

Covid killed millions. The shutdown bought us time for the virus to mutate into variants that were less deadly but more infectious. Masks help (Fauci lied to the American people, the science was always that masks would help). The vaccines were never a cure or total preventative any more than annual flu vaccines are. They are a tool of prevention against severe illness but nothing is guaranteed in medicine. People continue to die from covid, even vaccine-boosted people and certainly people who didn’t think covid was a thing.

As an essential worker throughout the pandemic I was and am continually exposed. I might even have risk factors. I wear my mask when dealing with the public. I got my Moderna shots and a booster. You do you.

[Gay State Conservative]

The Government response to COVID dictated by Fauci caused the shut down of the economy.

I'd be willing to bet the clothes on my back that in early 2020 the movers and shakers at Rat Party Headquarters decided that the best way to get rid of Trump was to bring the economy to its knees. Fauxi was a key player in that strategy...as were just about every Rat Governor...as well as a handful of Trump hating RINO Governors.

[Chickensoup]

Didn’t sell in time either.

[Gnome1949]

The wrong people are jumping to their deaths from tall buildings.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He sold his stock for about $24/share in August. It closed at $23.08/share on August 17 and is down to $8.63 as of Friday closing, $8.59 in aftermarket trading, still up from $4.43 on July 6th. Whatever made the price go up more than five times between July 6th and August 17th, he may well have played a major role. It’s likely he’s played this game before, with other companies, but this time he was caught.

[newzjunkey]

Maybe he couldn’t handle the reality of failure to turn things around. He might’ve had too much of who he is wrapped up in his career and didn’t feel connected to people. I can identify with the stresses as I get older. Maybe he was diagnosed with severe illness or some other life changing event happened.

Whatever was bothering him, he’s at peace now.

[SamAdams76]

Too bad he didn’t have a bunch of My Pillows to land on.

Well played!

[Gay State Conservative]

I guess you didn't see the memo from the NIH about 2-3 weeks ago. It was entitled “We Got It Wrong,Bigtime!” IOW,the lockdowns were a total waste of time...as was pointed out/predicted in the Great Barrington Declaration of October 2020.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He lived large, and he may have been facing bankruptcy. Where can go, what can he even do. Teach high school? He may have been facing bankruptcy, jail, divorce, and unemployment, after being Master of the Universe.

[EEGator]

That’s why I like being nobody.:)