Kohl's CEO fired for steering business to a person with whom he had a relationship, retailer says

Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan was fired this week because he had an undisclosed personal relationship with a vendor on a consulting team that made a multimillion-dollar deal with the retailer at his direction, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan was fired this week because he had an undisclosed personal relationship with a vendor on a consulting team that made a multimillion-dollar deal with the retailer at his direction, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Buchanan had only been in the role since January.

An investigation by an outside law firm found Buchanan had violated company policies by directing the company to enter into “vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest,” the department store said.

Ashley Buchanan.Business WireThe Kohl’s board of directors terminated Buchanan for cause, the company said, and appointed board director Michael Bender as the interim CEO.

Kohl’s said Buchanan’s firing was unrelated to the company’s performance and did not involve any other employees. Buchanan previously held the same position at the crafts retailer Michaels since 2020. He became Kohl’s chief executive in January.