Best Buy Founder Schulze Exits Board Far Earlier Than Expected After Stepping Down as Chairman

Best Buy founder Dick Schulze is resigning the company’s board and looking into options regarding his 20% stake in the company after planning to step down from his chairman position last month in the wake of a sexual misconduct scandal.

The Best Buy founder’s recent decision is only part of the turmoil that resulted at the company after an alleged improper relationship between former Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn and an unnamed, far younger female employee rocked the company.

The Best Buy founder, Dick Schulze, was caught up in the ensuing shakeup after it was revealed that he privately spoke to Dunn when the relationship came to his attention, but did not inform members of the company’s board, opting to deal with the matter privately.

At the time Best Buy’s founder decided to step down, an internal investigation determined that Dunn had “violated company policy [at Best Buy] by engaging in an extremely close personal relationship with a female employee that negatively impacted the work environment.” Morale among other employees at Best Buy is said to have been affected by Dunn’s alleged relationship with the woman.

Although Best Buy founder Dunn had planned to resign as chair later in June, he rescinded the position earlier than expected this week and said he is seeking options in regards to his 20.1% share of the company, which some believe could lead to a private takeover of the company led by Schulze.

Bernstein Research analyst Colin McGranahan spoke to Reuters, saying:

“We surmise that Schulze had some disagreement with the board and current management team around the strategies being considered.”

Originally, Best Buy’s founder Schulze had planned to stay on as director through 2013.