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Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen is resigning immediately from the grocery store chain following an investigation that found his personal conduct was “inconsistent” with the company’s ethics policies.
Last month, Kroger said it was “made aware of certain personal conduct” of McMullen, prompting the board to conduct an investigation. No additional details about what it discovered was revealed, but the company said his conduct isn’t related to the company’s “financial performance, operations or reporting, and it did not involve any Kroger associates.”
Ronald Sargent, who’s been on Kroger’s board of directors since 2006, will serve as its interim CEO until a permanent replacement is named.
“As interim CEO, I am committed to working alongside our proven and experienced management team and dedicated associates to ensure Kroger continues providing exceptional value for our customers,” Sargent said in a press release Monday.
McMullen has been with Kroger for nearly five decades, first joining the company as a part-time stock clerk at a Kentucky location in 1978. He worked his way up at the company and has held several leadership positions including chief financial officer and was elected to the company’s board in 2003 and became the CEO in 2014.
The changes comes a few months after Kroger scrapped its $25 billion merger with rival Albertsons amid regulatory pressure from the previous US administration.
As a result, Albertsons sued Kroger for breach of its contract agreement, alleging Kroger caused the merger to be blocked. Albertsons said that Kroger failed to exercise its “best efforts” and to take “any and all actions” to secure regulatory approval of the merger.
Kroger (KR) stock fell about 1% in premarket trading.
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