It was supposed to be the "Great Turnaround." In January 2025, Kohl’s brought in Ashley Buchanan, the former golden boy of Michaels, to fix a sinking ship. Shareholders were hopeful. The retail industry was watching. Then, just 100 days later, the board didn't just ask him to leave—they fired him "for cause."
When a CEO gets fired for cause, it’s basically the corporate equivalent of being escorted out of the building with your belongings in a cardboard box while everyone watches. It's rare. It's messy. And honestly, it’s usually expensive.
The Scandal That Rocked Menomonee Falls
The news broke on May 1, 2025. Kohl's fires CEO Ashley Buchanan for unethical behavior, and the details that trickled out were straight out of a corporate thriller. This wasn't about missing sales targets or a bad holiday season. Those things happen. This was about a fundamental breach of trust.
According to SEC filings and internal reports, an investigation conducted by outside counsel found that Buchanan had been playing favorites. Specifically, he directed Kohl’s to sign a multimillion-dollar consulting deal and vendor contracts with a company called Incredibrew. The kicker? Incredibrew was founded by Chandra Holt, an individual with whom Buchanan reportedly had a long-term, undisclosed personal relationship.
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This wasn't just a small oversight. The terms of the deals were described by investigators as "highly unusual" and heavily skewed in favor of the vendor. In the world of big retail, that’s a massive red flag. You can't just hand out company cash to your friends or partners without telling the board. That’s Ethics 101.
A Pattern of "Undisclosed" Relationships
The deeper the investigators dug, the weirder it got. It turned out this wasn't the first time Buchanan and Holt had crossed paths. They had worked together at Walmart and Michaels. Reports suggest they had even lived together while working at previous companies, all while keeping the relationship a secret from their employers.
Imagine that. You’re the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company, and you’re secretly funneling contracts to a business run by your romantic partner. It’s the kind of thing that makes board members lose sleep.
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- The Contracts: Multimillion-dollar deals for vitamin-infused coffee.
- The Terms: "Highly unusual" and "favorable to the vendor."
- The Result: Immediate termination and forfeiture of a $2.5 million signing bonus.
Why This Matters More Than a Typical Firing
Most of the time, when a CEO fails, they get a "golden parachute"—a massive payout to go away quietly. Not this time. Because the board fired him for cause, Buchanan had to give back a chunk of his signing bonus and lost all his stock-based compensation.
Kohl’s was already struggling. Sales were down nearly 10% in the previous quarter. They were closing stores. They needed a leader, not a scandal. The fact that the board acted so quickly—just four months into his tenure—shows how serious the breach was. They couldn't afford to have a CEO who was essentially using the company as a personal checkbook for associates.
Was Kohl's Warned?
Here’s the part that really stings for the Kohl’s board. There were whispers. Retail analysts like Brittain Ladd claim they tried to warn the company about Buchanan’s past behavior before he was even hired. Ladd alleges that similar patterns of unethical conduct and "shady" vendor deals existed during Buchanan’s time at Michaels and Walmart.
If those warnings were ignored, it points to a massive failure in the vetting process. When you're hiring for the top spot, you usually check every single corner of a person’s professional life. Somehow, this relationship stayed under the radar until it was too late.
The Fallout: A Board in Turmoil
The drama didn't end with Buchanan’s exit. Shortly after he was fired, board member Christine McCormick Day resigned in a huff. She didn't go quietly, either. She sent emails—which ended up in SEC filings—complaining about a lack of transparency and a "culture where real discussions rarely occur."
Basically, she felt like the board was being kept in the dark by Chair Michael Bender, who took over as interim CEO (and later became the permanent CEO in November 2025). When a board starts fighting in public, you know things are bad.
Key Takeaways from the Investigation:
- Buchanan directed contracts to a personal contact.
- Terms were significantly better for the vendor than for Kohl’s.
- He failed to disclose the relationship as required by the Code of Ethics.
- The termination was "unrelated to company performance," though the timing couldn't have been worse.
What This Means for the Future of Retail Leadership
The fact that Kohl’s fires CEO Ashley Buchanan for unethical behavior serves as a massive wake-up call for corporate America. In the past, companies might have buried this or let the CEO resign for "personal reasons." Not anymore. In 2026, transparency is the only currency that matters to investors.
If you're a leader, the lesson is simple: disclosure is your best friend. Even the appearance of a conflict can ruin a career. For Kohl's, they are now playing catch-up, trying to rebuild a brand that has seen four CEOs in four years. That kind of turnover is exhausting for employees and confusing for customers.
Actionable Insights for Investors and Professionals
If you’re watching Kohl’s or any company going through a leadership crisis, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Watch the SEC Filings: The real story is never in the press release; it’s in the "8-K" filings where the company has to legally disclose the reasons for a "for cause" termination.
- Vetting Matters: If you’re involved in hiring or board governance, the Buchanan saga proves that background checks need to go deeper than just "did he hit his numbers?"
- Cultural Red Flags: When a board member resigns citing "transparency issues" right after a scandal, it usually means there’s more rot under the surface.
- The Power of "For Cause": Seeing a company actually claw back bonuses is a sign of a board that is finally taking accountability seriously.
Kohl's is now under the leadership of Michael Bender, a retail veteran who is tasked with scrubbing the stain of the Buchanan era off the corporate walls. Whether he can actually fix the business is a different story, but at least for now, the secret vendor deals are off the table.
To stay ahead of these corporate shifts, keep a close eye on the quarterly earnings calls. Look specifically at "General and Administrative" expenses—that’s often where the costs of these legal investigations and "highly unusual" contracts hide before they are exposed. If you're an employee at a major retailer, understand that ethics hotlines exist for a reason; in this case, internal auditing and external counsel were the only things that stopped a multimillion-dollar drain on the company’s resources.