Ackman quits JC Penney board three years into turnaround push
JC PENNEY said yesterday that activist investor Bill Ackman had resigned from the board, three years after embarking on a public and at times acrimonious campaign to turn around the struggling department store operator and less than a week after demanding the ousting of its chairman Thomas Engibous and interim chief executive Myron Ullman.
JC Penney’s shares, which have lost a third of their value this year, rose as much as four per cent in pre-market trading and were down over 2.5 per cent last night.
“At this time, I believe that the addition of two new directors and my stepping down from the board is the most constructive way forward for JC Penney and all other parties involved,” Ackman said.
Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management owns about 18 per cent of JC Penney and is its biggest shareholder. JC Penney said retail industry veteran Ronald Tysoe would join its board and that it would appoint another director soon. The search for Ullman’s eventual successor will continue even with Ackman’s departure.