Bed Bath & Beyond executive dies at New York apartment building

A top American executive has tragically taken his own life while at home with his wife in their New York City apartment.

Bed Bath & Beyond executive Gustavo Arnal.

Bed Bath & Beyond executive Gustavo Arnal didn’t say a word to his wife before taking his life at their 18th-floor apartment in New York, The New York Post has learned.

Arnal, 52, also didn’t leave a note prior to his death, which occurred while his wife was in the home with him around 12.20am on Friday in Lower Manhattan, law-enforcement sources said Sunday.

Arnal’s grieving widow and two grown daughters appeared to have left the high-rise at 56 Leonard St in Tribeca around 10.35am on Sunday to make funeral arrangements, the New York Post reports.

A doorman approached the weeping women and said, “I’m so very, very sorry,” as two men dressed in black escorted them to a waiting black van.

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Gustavo Arnal, the CFO of Bed Bath and Beyond.

The women declined to comment, and one of the men held out his hand, saying, “No. Back!”

Arnal and his wife rented a stunning three-bedroom in the skyscraper – nicknamed the “Jenga building” because of its unique design – for nearly $18,500 ($A27,228) a month, said a source familiar with the property.

When Arnal died, he was facing a $1.2 billion ($A1.7 billion) “pump-and-dump” stock-fraud suit that had been filed against him about two weeks ago.

A listing on apartments.com that was updated two weeks ago includes a prominent note that says “Check Back Soon for Upcoming Availability”.

Arnal was named chief financial officer of the troubled Bed Bath & Beyond chain, headquartered in Union, New Jersey, in 2020 after spending about three years in London, where he held similar positions at cosmetics giant Avon and the retail pharmaceutical Walgreens Boots Alliance.

He earlier spent 20 years working in finance for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, including in jobs in Switzerland and Brazil, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Mr Arnal lived at a New York apartment known as the ‘Jenga’ building. Picture: Google Maps

On August 16, Arnal sold 55,013 shares in Bed Bath & Beyond, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The move came shortly before Bed Bath & Beyond said that it would close 150 stores and lay off about 20 per cent of its 32,000 workers as part of a restructuring plan to boost its money-losing business.

The stock closed at $20.65 a share on the day of Arnal’s sell-off, making the sale worth more than $1 million ($A1.5 million).

An earlier report by MarketBeat.com put the number of shares Arnal sold at 42,513.

The company’s stock price fell by nearly 25 per cent after the announcement.

Bed, Bath and Beyond issued a statement Sunday announcing Arnal’s death.

Bed Bath & Beyond issued a statement in the wake of the CFO’s death. Picture: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News

“The entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. organisation is profoundly saddened by this shocking loss,” the statement said.

Harriet Edelman, chairwoman of the company’s board of directors, added in the release, “I wish to extend our sincerest condolences to Gustavo’s family.

“Gustavo will be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent and stewardship of our Company. I am proud to have been his colleague, and he will be truly missed by all of us at Bed Bath & Beyond and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.

“Our focus is on supporting his family and his team and our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time,” Edelman said.

“Please join us in respecting the family’s privacy.”

– Additional reporting by Jennifer Gould

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been republished with permission.