Kohl's fires CEO Ashley Buchanan after less than 5 months in role: What happened?
Ashley Buchanan has been fired as CEO of Kohl’s after less than five months in the role due to unethical behavior, including directing vendor transactions with conflicts of interest.
In a surprising move, Ashley Buchanan was fired from his position as CEO of Kohl’s, just five months after taking the role. The company stated that Buchanan’s dismissal was after an investigation revealed unethical practices, particularly conflicts of interest related to vendor transactions.
Buchanan had directed a deal with an individual whom he had a close personal relationship with, and gave them “highly unusual terms favorable to the vendor” and a multimillion-dollar consulting agreement with the same individual.
Buchanan's firing was classified as "for cause", which is a term that carries around an important weight in the business world.
Buchanan's short tenure and sales struggles in Kohl's
Buchanan had previously been at the front of Michaels also as a CEO, and joined Kohl's in January 2025 with the mission to revive the struggling department store chain. Unfortunately, his expertise was not enough to yield positive results.
Preliminary earnings for the year showed a 4.3% drop in sales, adding to the financial challenges Kohl’s has faced in the past few years. However, in their statement, Kohl’s added that his termination is “unrelated to the company’s performance, financial reporting, results of operations and did not involve any other company personnel.”
Interim CEO and leadership transition at Kohl’s
After Buchanan’s party, Michael Bender, Kohl’s board chairman, has been appointed as the new interim CEO, and it raises questions over the company's ability to overcome its existing issues.
Kohl's has been facing numerous challenges in the retail industry, as online sellers, inflation and e-commerce have been making it more difficult for retail companies to manage to stay afloat.
