Holy Shit. Please bear with me as my blood is BOILING and I’m trying to get this message out ASAP!
I think I’ve found the “expensive consultants” RC tweeted about: Macellum Capital Management (MCM). In 2019 MCM completed a hostile takeover of BBBY, implementing 9 new directors & completely new Management team. This seems to be status quo for Duskin & MCM. They have infiltrated several of Amazon’s competitors, including: Big Lots, Citi Trends, Christopher & Banks, The Children’s Place, Perry Ellis, and now they’re on the hunt for Kohl’s. (sauce https://macellumcapitalmanagement.com/activist-campaigns/)
If that’s not enough ???, let’s take a step back to see where ole Jon learned how to burn companies to the ground. Jonathan’s career seems to be a series of failing up. (Linkedin sauce: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-duskin-31550bb/details/experience/)
1998-2005
After starting out as a Managing Director of Lehman Brothers, he decided to be more hands on in the destruction of retail companies and moved to our favorite financial terrorist, Stevie Cohen’s SAC Capital.
2006-2008
He left SAC in 2005 and shortly after made his first stint in retail as an “Equity Sponsor” at Goody’s. I have no fucking clue what an “Equity Sponsor” is supposed to do, but it lead to Goody’s filing bankruptcy just 2 years into his stint (sauce: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-goodys-bankruptcy-sb-idUSTRE50D4MZ20090114) Also during this time frame, he had the time to join the board of KB Toys. In no surprise, they filed bankruptcy in 2009.
2008-Current
He’s done a better job covering his tracks since founding Macellum Capital Management (MCM), but I plan to dive into this more extensively and I hope Apes do as well. He served as Director for Wet Seal Inc. and Whitehall Jewelers, both of which have filed for bankruptcy. In 2017 MCM completed it’s most contested takeover to date: Citi Trends. They appointed directors: Dyan Jozwick, Lana Krauter, and Paul Metcalf whose experience includes gulp SEARS, Kitson, Delia’s, and JC Penny WHICH HAVE ALL FILED FUCKING BANKRUPTCY! Here’s a good article explaining the situation https://www.thestreet.com/markets/corporate-governance/citi-trends-tries-to-fend-off-directors-linked-with-failed-retailers-14039739
His takeover of The Children’s Place really makes me sick, so here’s an article if you want to read into it https://www.therobinreport.com/jonathan-duskin-who/
BBBY
It’s tough finding info from the time of takeover because search results are flooded with RC’s big swinging dick, but I found an interesting video of Coke Rat Cramer chastising the old management and advocating for the takeover… https://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/70f9935b-04e4-449a-b306-a1114398211d?token=98429c13-671d-45f8-bf8a-812d73c18fe8
Kohls
Right now his targets are set on none other than Amazon’s #1 clothing competitor: Kohls. MCM owns 5% of Kohls stock and has been aggressively trying to place 10 new board members in addition to the 2 they placed last year. The usual suspects in financial media have been criticizing Kohl’s for underperforming while praising this parasite Duskin as the only hope to save the company… It seems the current Kohl’s management has gotten wise to the Short & Distort/ Cellar Box strategy used against so many of their peers and has implemented a “poison pill” to fight back against the hostile takeover (sauce: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2022/02/04/kohls-putting-in-a-poison-pill-is-unprecedented-after-only-two-weeks-says-macellum-ceo.html) This will be an interesting story to watch unfold.
TLDR:
Jonathan Duskin’s firm Macellum Capital Management placed a new board of directors and management at BBBY in 2019. They’ve been raking in massive amounts of compensation while allowing the company to fail. He learned from his stints at Lehman and Stevie Cohen’s SAC how to burn companies to the ground while personally profiting. List of companies he’s had a hand in bankrupting: Sears, Kitson, Delia’s, JC Penny, Goody’s, Wet Seal, Whitehall Jewelers, and KB Toys. The ones that are up next can be found here: https://macellumcapitalmanagement.com/activist-campaigns/