Gustavo Arnal, an executive vice president and the chief financial officer of Bed Bath & Beyond, was identified as the man who jumped to his death from the 18th floor of New York’s Tribeca skyscraper known as the “Jenga” tower on Friday, according to a report.
Bed Bath & Beyond confirmed in a news release on Sunday that Arnal died on Friday.
“I wish to extend our sincerest condolences to Gustavo’s family,” Harriet Edelman, independent chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. board of directors said in a written statement. “Gustavo will be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent and stewardship of our Company.”
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“I am proud to have been his colleague, and he will be truly missed by all of us at Bed Bath & Beyond and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him,” Edelman continued. “Our focus is on supporting his family and his team and our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time. Please join us in respecting the family’s privacy.”
The incident happened just two days after Bed Bath & Beyond announced it will cut roughly 20% of its workforce across corporate and supply chain and close 150 lower-producing stores as part of a turnaround plan.
Shares at the time tumbled more than 20% on the news in a year that has been already very rough for the retail store. Bed Bath’s shares have been on an unpredictable roller-coaster ride for months, rocketing up to $30.06 and falling to a low of $4.38 in the past year. At Tuesday’s close of $12.11, stocks were down about 17% YTD.
Arnal sold 42,513 shares of Bed Bath & Beyond stock on Aug. 16 for more than $1,029,000, according to MarketBeat.com. Following the transaction, Arnal still owned 267,896 shares in the company, valued at more than $6,488,000.
