Rodney McMullen, the CEO of Kroger, has issued his letter of resignation to take effect immediately following an internal investigation that found his conduct “inconsistent” with the ethics policies of Kroger.
The company did not mention the details of the internal investigation but said that the problem was unrelated to operations, financial performance, or Kroger staff.
A board member, Ronald Sargent, who has been with the company since 2006, is expected to take over from McMullen as interim CEO while the company works on finalizing a permanent replacement. The resigned CEO had stayed almost five decades with the company after joining in 1978 as a part-time stock clerk. He has occupied different positions at Kroger before becoming the CEO in 2014, including CFO.
This resignation comes many months after the company left its $25 billion merger with Albertson because of regulatory challenges. Albertsons filed a legal action against Kroger, where it accused the latter of violating their contract agreement by not putting much-needed effort into getting regulatory approval.
The company’s stock has dropped by 1% in premarket trading after the announcement of Rodney McMullen. Kroger is now embroiled in a leadership crisis as it moves through legal challenges and future strategic decisions.
