Who was Gustavo Arnal, the Venezuelan executive who jumped from a New York skyscraper?

Before joining the housewares sales company Bed Bath & Beyond in the United States, the Venezuelan executive Gustavo Arnal was already on the lists of figures in the world of finance in New York and other metropolises where a solid race.

In that company with some 1,530 stores throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, Arnal served as CFO and Executive Vice President since May 2020, he came to the company to find creative solutions to the problems faced by the retailer in sales before the COVID-19 pandemic.

After his sudden death, at the age of 52, on the night of September 3, when he jumped from a skyscraper in southern Manhattan, New York, where he lived with his family – in an apparent suicide as the first hypothesis of the investigation in course given by the Big Apple police – his profile has jumped to the American media.

The company for which he worked for more than two years, which is in serious financial problems, has highlighted the contribution of the Venezuelan executive and has asked to respect the family’s privacy in the process.

“Mr. Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. in May 2020 following a distinguished global career in finance at Avon, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Procter & Gamble. At Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Mr. Arnal was instrumental in guiding the organization through the coronavirus pandemic, transforming the company’s financial foundation and building a strong and talented team,” said Harriet Edelman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. the New Jersey-based company, in a statement.

Edelman also highlighted Arnal’s profile as “an esteemed colleague in the financial community” of the New York trading floor.

According to data from his professional profile on the LinkedIn network – which has already been deleted – the longest period of his career, 20 years, was spent in the financial management of the company Procter & Gamble, whose headquarters are in the city from Cincinnati, Ohio.

He also lived in Brazil, Switzerland, and India for professional reasons, according to media from the financial sector about Arnal, who graduated from the Simón Bolívar University of Venezuela, with studies in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in finance from the Metropolitan University. from Caracas.

The husband and father of two adult daughters was the CFO of the company’s India, Middle East and Africa businesses, where he oversaw operations in more than 50 countries. reported the Cleveland Business Journal in May 2020, when Arnal was signed by Bed Bath & Beyond.

The dark side and the investigations

The death of the Venezuelan executive comes amid financial problems for the company, after Bed Bath & Beyond announced that it will close some 150 stores and lay off around 20% of its staff, out of a workforce of 32,000 workers, this to restructure the loss-making sailing company.

After the comfortable life in the exclusive building in Manhattan, very characteristic for its particular shape that simulates Lego pieces, where close sources have said that the cost of renting the apartment where he lived with his wife and daughters is around 18,500 dollars a month, Arnal He was on his way to court for fraud.

According to inquiries from The New York Postthe Venezuelan executive was accused in a $1.2 billion class action lawsuit in a District of Columbia court in Washington DC, filed on August 23.

The plaintiffs have argued in their allegation that Arnal and other financial floor executives artificially inflated the shares of the Bed Bath and Beyond company to carry out a quick sale at a profit.

Data compiled on Wall Street indicate that on August 16, Arnal sold his 55,013 shares of the company in which he worked as chief financial officer and executive vice president, just before Bed Bath & Beyond acknowledged that it had serious financial problems.

The day of the round sale made by Arnal, the company’s shares closed at $20.65 per share, the transaction made him more than a million dollars, but with the announcement of the problems, the shares later plummeted.

The claim for fraud is argued that the executive made use of privileged information and committed unfair administration to artificially inflate the price of the company’s shares and take advantage of the rise to sell it.

Bed Bath & Beyond had been struggling since the beginning of the year and its share price had fallen by as much as 65%, trading at $8.63 per share on the market.

The maneuver presumably executed by the executive shot the price up to 600% and the shares were worth 30 dollars, Arnal would have taken advantage of that moment to make his sale, according to compiled financial media.

The company has desisted from commenting on the operation and has said that in these moments of “pain and sadness” they are concentrating on supporting the family and the manager’s work team.

“Our focus is to support his family and his team and our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time. Please join us in respecting the privacy of the family,” his employer wrote in the statement.

investigations continue

The investigation into Arnal’s death is ongoing. The New York Police point to the suicide of the executive, who launched himself at midnight from the 50-story skyscraper when his wife was at home. He didn’t leave a goodbye note.

But his contract with the retail company indicates, Securities and Exchange Commission records have revealed, that at the time it signed him, Bed Bath & Beyond assumed it included a $9 million death or disability award.

The executive had income in 2020 of 4.65 million dollars and in 2021, the income fell to 2.9 million, most of his income according to the documents endorsed by the shareholders’ meeting corresponded to prizes and shares of the company.

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