The board of Best Buy Co. named a committee on Friday to search for a replacement for former Chief Executive Brian Dunn that does not include company founder and chairman Richard Schulze.
A spokesman for the board declined to comment on why Schulze was not part of its four-member panel looking for CEO candidates to replace Mr. Dunn, who resigned last week amid a board probe into his "personal conduct."
Some governance and leadership experts had expressed concerns to The Wall Street Journal that directors could have a hard time finding a qualified independent CEO because of the continuing strong presence of Schulze, 71, who controls nearly a fifth of company shares directly and through trusts, according to his most recent disclosure filing.
The Richfield, Minn., retailer also disclosed Friday that a member of the board, Rogelio Rebolledo, will leave at the end of his term on June 20.
The board has a policy that requires non-management directors to retire five years after leaving their primary careers; in 2007, Rebolledo retired as chairman of PBG Mexico, the Mexican operations of Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.
The departure comes as the board's audit committee continues an investigation into Dunn's conduct that is exploring whether he misused company assets in the course of a relationship with a female subordinate, according to people familiar with the matter.
The committee searching for a replacement CEO will include Lisa Caputo, executive vice president of marketing and communications at insurer Travelers Companies; Ronald James, chief executive of the Center for Ethical Business Cultures, a Minnesota business ethics consultancy; and Sanjay Khosla, president of developing markets at Kraft Foods Inc. The board had previously picked Kathy J. Higgins Victor, president of leadership-development firm Centera Corp., to lead the search.
The company affirmed that in addition to external candidates it was also considering internal ones including board member G. "Mike" Mikan, a former health-care executive who is serving as interim CEO.
The board has estimated that it may take as long as nine months to find a new CEO for the troubled retailer, which lost $1.7 billion last quarter as it struggles to reinvent itself amid tough competition from Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc.
Write to Miguel Bustillo at miguel.bustillo@wsj.com
This story first appeared on WSJ.com
