After enduring pressure from an investor and ousting CEO Jonathan Johnson, Beyond, the former Overstock now operating online as bedbathandbeyond.com, announced Camping World chief Marcus Lemonis will join Allison Abraham as co-chairs of the company board of directors.
In response to the move, Beyond stock rallied from $19.06 a share on November 30 to peak at $19.40 by mid-morning then falling back to $18.95 by noon. Beyond stock, then still designated Overstock before a recent name change, hit a high for the year of $37.86 on August 2, according to Yahoo Finance. On August 1, the operation transitioned from overstock.com to bedbathandbeyond.com online in the United States after doing so earlier in Canada.
Lemonis was the choice of hedge fund JAT Capital Management, which holds a 9.6% stake in the company, to run Overstock, a preference it expressed to the board in a letter on November 2. However, Lemonis, who runs the outdoor recreational company Camping World and who for several seasons hosted the CNBC show “The Profit,” told CNBC in an interview that he wasn’t interested in being CEO and had joined the Overstock board in October expecting to be named executive chairman.
Abraham became chair of Overstock in 2017 after having served on the board since 2002, as cited in the Beyond investor relations site.
Johnson steered Overstock through the acquisition of Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property rights, which occurred in June, and the August 1 renaming of the overstock.com site in the United States to bedbathandbeyond.com, which occurred earlier in Canada. In a company conference call, Johnson laid out a vision for Beyond which included adding more retail websites including a closeout specialty business that would operate similarly to the original overstock.com. In recent years, Overstock reoriented itself from a closeout business to one offering first-line goods, then shifted from being a general merchandise to a home specialist retailer early this year. He departed the company on the day, November 6, when the corporate identity flipped from Overstock to Beyond. Not long before, JAT sent a letter to the company board asking it to revamp management and appoint Lemonis to an elevated position, preferably as executive chairman.
“I am intensely focused on working with the management team to drive financial results, reduce operating costs and review all performing and non-performing assets,” Lemonis stated in announcing the change in board structure. “While the team has begun taking decisive actions to restructure the company for a better future, I am eager for what lies ahead in the months to come.”
Abraham noted, “Marcus brings a wealth of experience as a public company chairman and CEO, with powerful operating knowledge in retail, branding and customer engagement. Both of us, along with the rest of the board and management team, are unified in our overarching goals of driving enhanced value for shareholders.”
