Gustavo Arnal, the chief monetary officer of retail large Mattress Tub & Past died on Friday after falling from a skyscraper in New York. The corporate confirmed the demise of the 52-year-old govt, who was born in Venezuela. Arnal’s demise comes simply days after Mattress Tub & Past introduced it could shut 150 shops and lay off 20% of its workforce.

The New York Metropolis medical expert’s workplace mentioned Sunday evening the chief died from a number of blunt trauma and that he had taken his personal life. Arnal fell from his house within the iconic 50-story constructing at 56 Leonard Avenue in Tribeca, Manhattan. The constructing is understood regionally because the “Jenga Tower” as a consequence of its distinctive construction. Arnal fell from his house on the 18th flooring. The chief didn’t go away a observe or say something to his spouse, who was within the house on the time.

Arnal had a level in mechanical engineering from the Simón Bolívar College in Caracas and a grasp’s diploma in finance from the Metropolitan College. Arnal, 52, joined Mattress Tub & Past in 2020. He beforehand labored as CFO for cosmetics model Avon in London and had a 20-year stint with Procter & Gamble, in response to his LinkedIn profile.

Mattress Tub & Past is within the midst of a critical monetary disaster, with enterprise hit onerous by the pandemic and rising inflation, which is altering shopper spending habits. The agency was swept up within the so-called “meme commerce,” by which costs fluctuate wildly as a consequence of social media hype amongst traders. Firm shares fell 21% final week after it introduced it could promote an undisclosed variety of shares.

The deceased govt was additionally the topic of a category motion swimsuit, which was filed on August 23. The lawsuit claims that Arnal artificially inflated the corporate’s inventory worth with false and deceptive info. Share costs of Mattress Tub & Past fell 65% within the final 12 months, to $8.63. However within the first half of August, they jumped almost 600%, to greater than $30, solely to plummet once more. When the shares peaked, Arnal bought inventory price greater than $1 million, the MarketBeat web site reported on the time.

In response to the grievance, Mattress Tub & Past mentioned it was “within the early phases of evaluating the grievance, however based mostly on present data the corporate believes the claims are with out advantage.”

In line with the corporate’s filings, Arnal acquired greater than $4.6 million and $2.9 million in compensation in 2020 and 2021, respectively, with a big a part of the quantity coming from inventory awards.

“I want to lengthen our sincerest condolences to Gustavo’s household. Gustavo will probably be remembered by all he labored with for his management, expertise and stewardship of our Firm. I’m proud to have been his colleague, and he will probably be actually missed by all of us at Mattress Tub & Past and everybody who had the pleasure of figuring out him,” mentioned Harriet Edelman, Unbiased Chair of the Mattress Tub & Past Inc. Board of Administrators, in a press release. “Our focus is on supporting his household and his crew and our ideas are with them throughout this unhappy and troublesome time. Please be a part of us in respecting the household’s privateness.”