The chairman and CEO of Kroger has resigned, citing issues related to his personal conduct. Rodney McMullen has led the Cincinnati-based grocery chain since 2014.
In a statement, Kroger says McMullen resigned "following a Board investigation of his personal conduct that, while unrelated to the business, was inconsistent with Kroger's Policy on Business Ethics." It did not say what that conduct entailed.
Kroger says its Board of Directors learned of "certain personal conduct" on Feb. 21 and hired an outside attorney to conduct an investigation. The company didn't release further details of the investigation or its findings.
"Mr. McMullen's conduct is not related to the company's financial performance, operations or reporting, and it did not involve any Kroger associates," according to the statement.
Lead Director Ronald "Ron" Sargent will serve as interim CEO and chairman of the Board, and Mark Sutton will serve as lead independent director. The Board has hired a national firm to lead the search for its next CEO.
McMullen, according to his company biography, started his Kroger career in 1978 as a part-time stock clerk in Lexington, Ky. He was elected to the company's board in 2003, followed by president and chief operating officer in 2009. He was named CEO in 2014 and named chairman of the Board in 2015.
Kroger operates more than 2,700 supermarket and multi-department stores under 20 brands, including Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer and King Soopers, across 35 states and the District of Columbia.
In December, a federal judge halted a planned merger between Kroger and Idaho-based Albertsons, which operates brands such as Safeway and Vons. Albertsons is the second-largest supermarket operator in the U.S. behind Kroger. The deal was valued at $24.6 billion.
A day later, Albertsons abandoned the merger and sued Kroger, alleging a willful breach of contract for not doing enough to win regulatory approval for the merger. Kroger responded, saying Albertsons was deflecting its own responsibility.
While Kroger and Albertsons are the largest grocery chains, Walmart has the largest share of the grocery market.
