(Bloomberg) – Ashley Buchanan's relationship as Kohl's CEO began about 10 years ago. Some describe it as an open secret among colleagues and spanned his early high-profile positions at Walmart and Michaels.
On May 1, Cole's board of directors determined that he had directed millions of dollars in business to people with whom he had a personal relationship, but did not disclose the relationship, which violated the company's ethical policy. According to people familiar with the matter, that person was Chandra Holt, who has been involved in it romantically. The scandal shocked retailers the entire industry.
Just a few months after arriving with Buchanan, the decision to separate from Buchanan raised questions about the relationships that the company knew or should have known had long blurred the relationship between the individual and the professional. Buchanan and Holt's careers overlapped several times, sometimes scrutinized from colleagues, and then reached the end in Kohl's controversial deal. It is not clear when they will be romantically involved.
“While there is reason to expect the board to find potential conflicts of interest during the review process, even the largest process can be compromised when someone actively covers up the relationship,” said Lawrence Cunningham, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at John Lawrence Cunningham. “The lesson may be that the board needs to go beyond resumes and references – a comprehensive review should include deeper background checks, screenings of conflicts of interest, and a wider interview with former colleagues.”
Cole declined to make a public statement other than comment. Buchanan did not respond to a request for comment on this article.
According to people familiar with the relationships of executives, new details have begun to emerge about a decade ago, and new signs began to appear about a decade ago when both Buchanan and Holt were executives at Walmart and its warehouse division, according to people familiar with the matter.
The people said employees believe the close relationship between Buchanan and Holt led to preferential treatment for Sam's club chief businessman Buchanan. Holt has been one of his direct reports for some time.
For example, they said that when employees thought Holt was allowed to redesign a part of the company’s office, her taste included Holt, which included a purple velvet sofa and a crystalline accent table. (According to another person familiar with the matter, Buchanan has no oversight of the company's office budget.)
Ultimately, just before Buchanan won the top position at the arts and craft chain Michaels in 2020, some Walmart employees were questioned about Buchanan and any personal relationship he might have with people in the company, a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak on the matter.
According to another person familiar with the company's investigation team, there was no formal complaint or investigation into the matter and the group had no right to make a public statement on the matter. Walmart declined to comment on the story.
Holt declined to comment on her time at Walmart.
Buchanan left his leadership Michaels after 13 years as the world's largest retailer, and Apollo Global Management said in 2021 it will acquire it for $3.3 billion in cash.
Although Buchanan is Michaels' chief executive, Holt was recruited by the craft chain, a person familiar with the matter said that there was no authorization to make the matter public. Ultimately, she was not eligible to join Michaels due to Buchanan's non-good faith agreement, which prevented him from poaching other Walmart executives, noting that she was also promoted at Walmart. Michaels did not respond to a request for comment.
Bloomberg News, the lawyer for Buchanan’s ex-wife, reviewed “Mr. Buchanan’s extramarital affair, and there is no dispute over it.”
The lawyer added: “Mr. Buchanan is recruiting Chandra Holt to be part of Michaels’ executive team. Ms. Holt is not just a lover, but someone related to the case.
Buchanan's divorce lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
After Buchanan headed to Michaels, Holt was promoted to Walmart.com's chief merchandise sales and general officer. More than a year later, she left as CEO of Conn's Homeplus, a furniture and appliance retailer that went bankrupt a few years later.
Holt has worked at Conn's for over a year, bed bath and over four months, and earlier this year founded Inketibrew, a company that sells coffee pods infused with dietary supplements such as collagen and protein. These pods have been found on Walmart and Michaels’ websites.
Cole said Thursday that the board’s investigation found Buchanan was pushing retailers to conduct business with suppliers “involved in undisclosed conflicts of interest”. Buchanan also directed Cole to sign a multi-million-dollar consulting agreement with the Boston Consulting Group, with Holt acting as a consultant, according to a person not authorized to speak publicly.
“BCG was shocked to learn about the relationship between Chandra Holt and Ashley Buchanan,” a BCG spokesman said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We have strict guidelines requiring our senior advisers to disclose any conflicts of interest. We have terminated Chandra Holt's contract due to such disclosure.”
“She was not involved in building the project or negotiating any contract terms and is not expected to lead any part of the project,” BCG said in a follow-up statement.
Holt had previously told Bloomberg News that she “had known Ashley Buchanan for 10 years, but I received any compensation from Kohl's Incredibrew business.”
According to a person familiar with Holt, she plans to continue her Incredibrew business.
– Assisted with Bob van Voris.
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