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Bed Bath & Beyond Executive's New York City Death Ruled A Suicide
Gustavo Arnal, the chief executive officer for Bed Bath & Beyond, plunged to his death from New York City skyscraper.
The death of the chief financial officer for Bed Bath & Beyond was ruled a suicide by the New York City’s Medical Examiner on Monday.
The medical examiner determined that Gustavo Arnal, 52, died from multiple blunt trauma, according to multiple media reports.
Arnal plunged to his death on Friday after jumping from the 18th floor of a 57-story skyscraper known as the “Jenga building” in Lower Manhattan.
Police said in a statement on Sunday that they responded to a 911 call of an unconscious person. When they arrived on the scene, they found an “unconscious and unresponsive 52-year-old male, who appeared to suffer from injuries indicative from a fall from an elevated position.”
That person was later identified as Arnal.
He did not leave a note and said nothing to his wife, who was at home at the time, according to the New York Post and WNBC.
Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020 and previously served as the CFO for the cosmetic brand Avon in London. Prior to that he worked for Procter & Gamble for 20 years, Reuters reported.
Just weeks before his death Arnal was named in a federal lawsuit involving a so-called “pump and dump” scheme. Activist investor Ryan Cohen and BBB are also named in the lawsuit. JPMorgan Chase & Company, a financial adviser to the home goods company, is also named in the lawsuit.
Arnal and Cohen are accused in the lawsuit of providing false information about the company’s financial stability.
Arnal sold a total of 55,013 shares in the company between August 16 and 17. Those calculations from Reuters are based on Securities and Exchange Commission filings. He still had 255,400 shares.
"The defendants, knowing that the information they disclosed was false, took advantage of the inflated stock price and used fraudulent and misleading SEC filings to sell all their [Bed Bath & Beyond] shares and options at artificially inflated prices to unsuspecting and innocent public investors and then retained control of the profits," the suit states.
Reuters reported that company officials said they were “in the early stages of evaluating the complaint but based on current knowledge the company believes the claims are without merit.”
The chairwoman of Bed Bath & Beyond said the company is “profoundly saddened” by Arnal’s death.
“Gustavo will be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent and stewardship of our Company. 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,” Harriet Edelman said according to the Washington Post. “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.”
