C-Suite Transitions – CEO Michelle Gass Transitions From Kohl’s To Levi Strauss

Welcome to edition 14 of  C-Suite Transitions, a new weekly series on InsideArbitrage that tracks appointments and departures at publicly traded companies during the prior week. We highlight five appointments and departures each week by picking the largest companies from the full list of management changes.

1. ​System1 (SST):  Paul Filsinger notified the company that he is resigning from his position of President effective November 30, 2022.
2. CURO Group Holdings Corp. (CURO): Roger Dean announced he will retire as the company’s Chief Financial Officer effective November 4, 2022.
3. Dynatrace (DT): Kevin Burns will resign as Chief Financial Officer and Principal Financial Officer effective November 15, 2022.

CEO Michelle Gass transition from Kohl’s (KSS) to Levi Strauss (LEVI)

Kohl’s, one of the largest department stores in the United States announced on November 8, 2022, that its CEO Michelle Gass will be leaving the company. Michelle Gass came to this decision after the company faced pressure and scrutiny from activist investors to restructure its management. Ms. Gass will start working for Levi Strauss (LEVI) as President in January 2022 and within the following 18 months, she will succeed Chip Bergh who has served as Levi Strauss’ CEO since September 2011.

We added Kohl’s as a potential deal in the works on December 5, 2021, when The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Engine Capital was urging Kohl’s to consider a sale of the company or a separation of its e-commerce business.  In the months that followed, Kohl’s received several bids and proposals from several interested parties but it turned down all of them. Activist hedge fund Starboard Value made a $9 billion or $64 per share offer in January 2022 and private equity firm Sycamore was rumored to be considering an offer of $65. The company not only turned down the Starboard offer but adopted a poison pill provision to fend off any attempts of a hostile takeover. The company’s financial advisors convinced Kohl’s that it was worth more and to hold off for at least $70 per share.

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