The tragic death of Gustavo Arnal: Wife was at ‘Jenga’ apartment when CFO jumped to his death without saying a word
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY: The wife of troubled Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Gustavo Arnal, who died on September 2, 2022, was in the three-bedroom apartment when he jumped to his death from the 18th floor of the 57-storey 'Jenga’ building at 56 Leonard Street in New York City.
According to NY Post, Gustavo, 52, reportedly did not say a word to his wife Alexandra Cadenas-Arnal or left a note before he died by suicide. However, the law enforcement source told CNN on Sunday, September 4, that Alexandra, who was married to Gustavo for 28 years and with whom she has two grown daughters, witnessed him jump from the apartment that cost them $18,500 a month.
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According to DailyMail, the wife and the daughter were seen leaving the building in TriBeCa to make funeral arrangements at around 10.35 am on September 4. While they were leaving, two men dressed in black escorted them to a black van, as per NY Post.
Details of the suicide
As reported earlier, Gustavo jumped off the building around 12.30 pm when calls regarding the emergency were first made, according to an NYPD spokesperson. He was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Daily Mail, there was another person on the scene who was hospitalized with minor injuries. EMS officials responded to the incident and took care of Gustavo's body.
The news of his death comes just a few days after the retailer announced that it was laying off 20 percent of its corporate and supply chain workforce and closing 150 stores nationwide as a result of the sky-rocketing inflation. The offices of the chief operating officer and chief stores officer are also being eliminated.
Why did Gustavo Arnal die by suicide?
Gustavo was accused of his role in the pump and dump scheme, as per Fortune. A group of shareholders filed a class action complaint against him and other defendants, alleging that Gustavo and majority shareholder Ryan Cohen, who is also the GameStop chairman, participated in a “pump and dump” scheme that caused them to lose almost $1.2 billion. According to the lawsuit, which was submitted on August 23 to the District of Columbia’s federal district court, Ryan spoke with Gustavo about the scheme to get control of shares of Bed Bath & Beyond so they could both profit. "With control over a significant portion of the public float, Cohen would essentially act as a price support for the stock while Gustavo would act in a similar capacity by controlling the sale of shares by Insiders. Under this arrangement, defendants would profit handsomely from the rise in price and could coordinate their selling of shares to optimize their returns," the lawsuit read.
According to IBTimes, Gustavo reportedly sold more than 42,000 shares of the frequently referred-to “meme stock” business for $1 million just over two weeks ago. He still had 267,896 shares of the corporation at that time, which were worth slightly under $6.5 million. He reportedly jumped to his death as he was struggling due to the rising inflation in the country.