Best Buy CEO Retains Her Job After Board-Led Investigation

Best Buy Co. Inc BBY has announced that the board-led investigation into its CEO Corie Barry has ended and she will stay in her role.

What Happened

The electronics retailer had brought in outside investigators to probe allegations by an anonymous letter that Barry had an inappropriate relationship with an executive working at the company. A statement issued by Best Buy said, “The Board takes allegations of misconduct seriously regardless of who is the subject. When the Board received an anonymous letter regarding Corie Barry, the Audit Committee immediately retained outside legal counsel, Sidley Austin LLP, to conduct an independent review. Ms. Barry fully cooperated with the review, which has now concluded. The Board supports the continued leadership of the Company by Ms. Barry.”

Barry also issued a statement, "I appreciate the Board's support and look forward to continuing to execute on our strategic vision to Build the New Blue: Chapter Two."

Why It Matters

According to Forbes, Barry has held nearly 15 positions in her 20-year career and is one of the few women who head a Fortune 500 company. She is also one of the youngest CEOs of such a company. Best Buy’s Code of Business Ethics does not address the issue of interoffice relationships but does touch upon social relationships that lead to “a weakness, or the appearance of weakness in the company’s system of internal controls, such as financial, fraud or theft.” in the examples of possible conflicts of interests.

Price Action

Best Buy shares traded 1.68% higher at $86.69 at press time on Tuesday.

Photo Credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia

Posted In: NewsLegalManagementTechMediaGeneral
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