Another scammy CEO kicked out.
The scoop is that he was diverting business to his "romantic partner". Crook.


Kohl's just fired its brand new CEO for unethical behavior
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/01/business/kohls-ceo-change

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New York CNN
Kohl's has fired its newly installed CEO, who has spent less than five months in the position, after the retailer found that Ashley Buchanan engaged in unethical behavior.

Buchanan's dismissal was "for cause," a rare rebuke of a business leader that carries serious weight in the business community. It comes after an investigation from an outside counsel found that he "violated company policies by directing the company to engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest," according to a press release.
Kohl's added that his termination is "unrelated to the company's performance, financial reporting, results of operations and did not involve any other company personnel."


Buchanan, a former chief executive of arts and crafts chain Michaels, began as Kohl's CEO on January 15 with the hopes of turning around the struggling retailer. But during his short tenure, he failed to do that with sales falling as much as 4.3% the company revealed in preliminary earnings.

Michael Bender, the current chairman of the Kohl's board, will become interim CEO until a replacement is found. The news sent Kohl's (KSS) shares soaring as much 8% in trading.
Buchanan's departure is a "distraction that the company does not need and can ill afford," Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said in a note.

"While the sacking is not related to performance, it gives the impression that Kohl's is in perpetual state of chaos and it raises some questions about the due diligence over his appointment," he said, adding that it's a "blow upon a bruise" for the company.
Like many department stores in recent years, Kohl's has spent the last few years in turmoil and has struggled to recover from shifting consumer behavior. It's also dealing with competition from online sellers, high inflation and, now, the pullback of consumer spending amid economic uncertainty.
Kohl's also recently announced the closure of 27 locations, resulting in about 1,100 stores left.

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Kohl's fires new CEO Ashley Buchanan for steering business to former romantic partner
https://nypost.com/2025/05/01/business/kohls-fires-new-ceo-ashley-buchanan-after-probe-finds-he-violated-conflict-of-interest-policies/

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Kohl's canned its newly hired chief executive after an investigation showed he had cut a "highly unusal" business deal with a woman who had been his romantic partner, according to a report.

Ashley Buchanan hired to lead the department store chain just four months ago directed Kohl's to "engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest," the company said on Thursday.

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Specifically, the conflicts involved Buchanan's relationship with Chandra Holt, a former colleague at Walmart, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
According to a company filing that didn't specifically name Holt, the vendor signed a multimillion-dollar consulting agreement with Kohl's with unusually favorable terms,

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Sorry to hear that. I love CEOs!

Rumor is his golden parachute was completely paid in Kohl's Cash

Dude lost his job over Trans Chris Kattan

***** is undefeated...

Between his base salary and stock options, Buchanan's compensation package was worth more than $20 million, making him one of the highest paid Wisconsin executives

Dumb, dumb.

Probably blackballed now too.

Still undefeated.

That woman is kryptonite! She was at Conn'a (folded), Overstock (BB&B owner, and folded) but has now hurt a company she didn't actually work for!

This guy can't pick winners, avoid them both.

So sad... the things rich and powerful men do for ugly women.

Dudes named Ashley.

aggiez03 said:

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***** is undefeated...

Probably blackballed now too.

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Blueballed at the very least

Teslag said:

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Rumor is his golden parachute was completely paid in Kohl's Cash

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He's gotta use it within 2 weeks

Lesson to be learned here: Don't hire guys named Ashley to be your CEO.

In a year from now he will land at some tech sales outfit where he will command a $2 million/year salary and do next to nothing.

My previous employer hired a guy who had a completely fictional resume and background to be the US President of the company. All he did was drink all day when "visiting" with employees or fly around the globe presenting elementary power points. He couldn't even spell correctly. He got fired but it was unrelated to his scam. He had a 4 year deal at $500k per year al guaranteed. He checked a DEI box. He landed on his feet of course because once you're in you're in.

VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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In a year from now he will land at some tech sales outfit where he will command a $2 million/year salary and do next to nothing.

My previous employer hired a guy who had a completely fictional resume and background to be the US President of the company. All he did was drink all day when "visiting" with employees or fly around the globe presenting elementary power points. He couldn't even spell correctly. He got fired but it was unrelated to his scam. He had a 4 year deal at $500k per year al guaranteed. He checked a DEI box. He landed on his feet of course because once you're in you're in.

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You are right. He will be fine. That is the magic of these CEOs, they can commit any crime, cheat anyone but still will make bank.

Mark Hurd is another example. He was CEO of HP and was caught with his pants down banging Jodie Fisher, a contractor who was a former B grade movie star. He got fired but then Larry Ellison hired him as co CEO of Oracle until cancer got him - he could not cheat death.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Dude lost his job over Trans Chris Kattan

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Okay that made me laugh.

How does Kohls stay open? I don't go there much (occasionally to do an Amazon return for my wife), but the store is huge and hardly anyone is there. Surely they'll end up like K-Mart.

NoahAg said:

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How does Kohls stay open? I don't go there much (occasionally to do an Amazon return for my wife), but the store is huge and hardly anyone is there. Surely they'll end up like K-Mart.

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Probably because you have a job. I bet it's packed with the suburban house wives during normal business hours

AGC said:

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That woman is kryptonite! She was at Conn'a (folded), Overstock (BB&B owner, and folded) but has now hurt a company she didn't actually work for!

This guy can't pick winners, avoid them both.

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It's the female Bob Nardelli.

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Mark Hurd is another example. He was CEO of HP and was caught with his pants down banging Jodie Fisher, a contractor who was a former B grade movie star. He got fired but then Larry Ellison hired him as co CEO of Oracle until cancer got him - he could not cheat death.

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Never forget that Mark Hurd was on the Baylor Board of Regents and put together the strategy of hiring Pepper Hamilton to conduct the investigation into the Art Briles scandal, but making sure they never actually got the full report, thereby preventing it from getting subpoenaed in any of their lawsuits and being used as evidence against Baylor. Basically, found all the skeletons, buried them, and then protected the map to the skeletons behind attorney-client privilege.

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The news sent Kohl's (KSS) shares soaring as much 8% in trading.

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That has to be a hit to his ego.

AtticusMatlock said:

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Quote:

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The news sent Kohl's (KSS) shares soaring as much 8% in trading.

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That has to be a hit to his ego.

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Assuming he has stock options, his ego is probably counting his money

NEVER trust a guy named Ashley!

aggiez03 said:

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***** is undefeated...

Between his base salary and stock options, Buchanan's compensation package was worth more than $20 million, making him one of the highest paid Wisconsin executives

Dumb, dumb.

Probably blackballed now too.

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You mean blueballed?

I wish that we enforce these types of firings with Congress and NGO's.

.... and now every Kohl's corporate office employees and store management underlings will have to watch and "pass" the generic corporate ethics video... AGAIN.

They all know it's this now-former ceo's actions are the reason.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Dude lost his job over Trans Chris Kattan

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Bill Belichick stays winning!!

Trajan88 said:

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.... and now every Kohl's corporate office employees and store management underlings will have to watch and "pass" the generic corporate ethics video... AGAIN.

They all know it's this now-former ceo's actions are the reason.

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hahahhahaha this is so true!

With a lot of scenario questions like this

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Scenario:
You are a hiring manager at a mid-sized technology company. During the recruitment process for a key product management role, you realize that one of the top candidates is someone you briefly dated several months ago. The relationship ended amicably, but there was a romantic connection, and you still occasionally exchange friendly messages.

The candidate is highly qualified and performed well in interviews. However, your team is unaware of your prior relationship. You would not directly supervise them, but you would be involved in performance reviews and strategic decisions affecting their role.

Ethics Question:
What should you do in this situation?
A) Proceed with the hire without disclosing the prior relationship, as it ended and there is no current conflict.
B) Disclose the prior romantic connection to HR and recuse yourself from the hiring decision.
C) Influence the team to avoid hiring the candidate without revealing your reasoning.
D) Hire the candidate and avoid further personal contact to keep things professional.

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LMCane said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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Dude lost his job over Trans Chris Kattan

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Bill Belichick stays winning!!

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Sorry bro, she is a 6-7 at best. She has that Katie Perry look but at least Katie has a nice rack. This chick is flat.



In that pic, Belichick looks looks like a grumpy grandpa being harassed by his teen granddaughter. No, not a good look. Only early 20s men think this is cool.

That chick is just a few years older than my son. BB is a few years younger than my dad. I don't think I have anything in common with my son's female friends. I pick up my daughter from HS and sometimes her friends come too and I drop them off, and they are like kids, and talk like kids. At some point in life it is beyond a "hot young body".

AGC said:

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That woman is kryptonite! She was at Conn'a (folded), Overstock (BB&B owner, and folded) but has now hurt a company she didn't actually work for!

This guy can't pick winners, avoid them both.

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Maybe she'll be the next dem VPOTUS candidate.

LMCane said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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Dude lost his job over Trans Chris Kattan

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Bill Belichick stays winning!!

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What's the over/under of her having an onlyfans page in the (near) future?

infinity ag said:

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LMCane said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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Dude lost his job over Trans Chris Kattan

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Bill Belichick stays winning!!

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Sorry bro, she is a 6-7 at best. She has that Katie Perry look but at least Katie has a nice rack. This chick is flat.



In that pic, Belichick looks looks like a grumpy grandpa being harassed by his teen granddaughter. No, not a good look. Only early 20s men think this is cool.

That chick is just a few years older than my son. BB is a few years younger than my dad. I don't think I have anything in common with my son's female friends. I pick up my daughter from HS and sometimes her friends come too and I drop them off, and they are like kids, and talk like kids. At some point in life it is beyond a "hot young body".

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Belichick is 73-years old and she's 24- as I recall my grandfather saying, "youth has a beauty all its own."

He would still be there If Kohl's sales and profits had increased.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Dude lost his job over Trans Chris Kattan

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You mean Mango???

I'm pretty sure his ex-wife is dating Bill Gates

infinity ag said:

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Trajan88 said:

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.... and now every Kohl's corporate office employees and store management underlings will have to watch and "pass" the generic corporate ethics video... AGAIN.

They all know it's this now-former ceo's actions are the reason.

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hahahhahaha this is so true!

With a lot of scenario questions like this

Quote:

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Scenario:
You are a hiring manager at a mid-sized technology company. During the recruitment process for a key product management role, you realize that one of the top candidates is someone you briefly dated several months ago. The relationship ended amicably, but there was a romantic connection, and you still occasionally exchange friendly messages.

The candidate is highly qualified and performed well in interviews. However, your team is unaware of your prior relationship. You would not directly supervise them, but you would be involved in performance reviews and strategic decisions affecting their role.

Ethics Question:
What should you do in this situation?
A) Proceed with the hire without disclosing the prior relationship, as it ended and there is no current conflict.
B) Disclose the prior romantic connection to HR and recuse yourself from the hiring decision.
C) Influence the team to avoid hiring the candidate without revealing your reasoning.
D) Hire the candidate and avoid further personal contact to keep things professional.

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I would've thought that "Bang her in the stock room" would've been the obvious answer and it's not even listed. Guess I wouldn't have done too well on that test.