Authorities: Bed Bath & Beyond CFO jumped to his death from New York building

The man who leapt to his death Friday from a New York City skyscraper has been identified as Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief financial officer.

Gustavo Arnal, 52, jumped from the 18th floor of the 56 Leonard St. condo building in Manhattan, police said. He also served as the retail company’s executive vice president.

Mr. Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020 after having served as a finance chief for the British cosmetics company Avon. He also had held upper level positions at Walgreens Boots Alliance and Procter & Gamble.

Stock market and financial data analysis website MarketBeat reported that Mr. Arnal had sold more than 42,000 shares in Bed Bath & Beyond for about $1 million in August.

The company has experienced recent financial difficulties.

Business Insider reported last week that Bed Bath & Beyond plans to close about 150 stores and cut its corporate workforce by 20%.

In an investor call Wednesday, company executives said they would shift from selling in-house brands and offer more labels after securing loans from JP Morgan and Sixth Street Partners.

Business Insider described Bed Bath & Beyond’s shares as a “meme stock” that has fluctuated in recent months due to interest among casual stock traders on social media sites such as Reddit.

Bed Bath & Beyond also suffered when billionaire investor Ryan Cohen, founder of pet products company Chewy Inc., sold his 10% stake in the company last month.

In June, chief executive Mark Tritton was replaced by board member Sue Gove.