Bed Bath & Beyond's chief financial officer died after falling from New York's Jenga tower

Authorities said on Sunday that the chief financial officer of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc fell to his death from the "Jenga" tower in Tribeca, New York, on Friday afternoon, days after the ailing company announced it was closing stores and laying off staff.

52-year-old Gustavo Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020. (NASDAQ:BBBY). According to his LinkedIn profile, he served as CFO for the London-based cosmetics giant Avon and spent 20 years at Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG).

Police responded to a 911 call on Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET (1630 GMT) and discovered a 52-year-old male who had fallen and incurred fatal injuries. Police identified the individual as Gustavo Arnal.

The reason for Arnal's death will be determined by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office, according to a police statement that revealed no additional details about his demise. In a press announcement issued on Sunday, Bed Bath & Beyond announced his death but provided no other details.

After seeking to sell more private-label products, the fortunes of the big-box store, once seen as a "category killer" in home and bath goods, have declined.

Bed Bath & Beyond stated last week that, in an effort to turn around its money-losing business, it would close 150 stores, reduce jobs, and overhaul its marketing strategy.

It forecast a larger-than-expected 26% drop in same-store sales for the second quarter and stated that it would not sell its buybuy Baby subsidiary.

Arnal sold 55,013 shares of Bed Bath & Beyond in multiple transactions on August 16-17, according to Reuters calculations based on SEC records. After sales totaling nearly $1,400,000, Arnal held approximately 255,400 shares.

The company, Arnal, and key shareholder Ryan Cohen were sued on August 23 for allegedly engaging in a "pump and dump" scheme to artificially increase the firm's stock price, with the lawsuit alleging that Arnal sold his shares at a higher price after the scheme.

In their class-action lawsuit, a group of stockholders who claimed to have lost nearly $1.2 billion named Arnal as one of the defendants.

According to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Arnal "agreed to limit insider transactions by BBBY's executives and directors to prevent a sudden influx of BBBY shares onto the market."

According to the lawsuit, he made misleading statements to investors as well.

The company responded that it was "in the earliest stages of evaluating the issue, but based on the available facts, it feels that the accusations are without merit."

In recent months, Bed Bath & Beyond's stock has been unusually volatile and has been perceived as a "meme" stock, which trades based on social media reactions rather than economic fundamentals.

Cohen, a wealthy investor, revealed a nearly 10% stake at the beginning of March. Cohen's RC Ventures declared its plan to sell its stake on August 17.