Jonathan Johnson stepped down as Bed Bath & Beyond’s CEO on Monday, just as the company transitioned from its old identity as Overstock.com.
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Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Jonathan Johnson is stepping down from his role, the company said Monday.The departure came suddenly, though the company said Johnson and Beyond parted under “mutual agreement.”The move came the same day that Beyond, formerly Overstock.com, assumed its new name.
Bed Bath & Beyond, formerly known as Overstock.com, has a new CEO as well as a new name.
Jonathan Johnson, who has been the company’s top executive since 2019, stepped down from the role, the company said on Monday, the same day it officially changed its name. Johnson led the company’s name change and has said that he looked at Bed Bath & Beyond’s name “jealously for several years.”
Beyond president, David Nielsen, will be interim CEO until the company can find someone to fill the role permanently, the company said.
The transition appeared abrupt. Johnson had previously planned to speak with members of the media in New York on Monday, CNBC reported.
Johnson’s resignation was the result of a “mutual agreement” between him and the company, the company said in a statement.
“Following the recent acquisition of the Bed Bath & Beyond brand and our corporate renaming as Beyond, Inc., the Board, and Jonathan determined that this is the ideal time for a transition in leadership to guide the company forward,” Beyond board chair Allison Abraham said.
“As the company turns the page to become Beyond, now is the right time for me to also turn the page to the next chapter in my career,” Johnson said in the company’s press release.
Beyond did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for additional comment on Johnson’s departure.
Johnson’s departure comes after hedge fund JAT Capital, which has a 9.6% stake in Beyond, demanded last week that the company remove him as CEO, Reuters reported on Friday.
Johnson “has performed poorly,” both when it comes to communicating with investors as well as judging by the company’s financial performance, JAT founder John Thaler wrote in a letter on Thursday.
Thaler wrote that Marcus Lemonis, who has starred on television shows such as CNBC’s The Profit and is CEO of Camping World, should become Beyond’s new CEO.
Overstock said in June that it would change its name after acquiring the rights to Bed Bath & Beyond’s name, trademarks, websites, mobile apps, and other elements of branding. Bed Bath & Beyond formerly was a chain of stores that sold home goods around the US. Beyond’s stores were not part of the deal.