Jason Del Rey on the Away Saga

Jason Del Rey, reporting for Recode:

The company told the Wall Street Journal that the CEO search had been in progress since the spring, insinuating that the fallout from the article, published by The Verge, did not play a role in Korey’s resignation.

But multiple sources tell Recode that while new CEO Stuart Haselden had indeed planned to join Away before The Verge piece was published, he was not meant to immediately helm the CEO role; instead, he would join the company as Away’s chief operating officer, or COO, reporting to Korey, and would later move into the top spot if all went according to plan.

Under that original plan, Haselden would eventually replace Korey as CEO — perhaps as early as mid-2020 — after he got to know the business better. It was also meant to allow Korey time to get comfortable with the transition, according to a person familiar with the plan. (Haselden was already COO of Lululemon, a public company worth $29 billion, and wouldn’t have taken the COO role at a much smaller company without the understanding that he would eventually hold the top spot.)

But after the workplace culture story erupted late last week, some of Away’s investors pushed to rip the band aid off and accelerate the CEO swap.

Almost like they were ready to pounce.

(I happen to know a bunch of outlets were digging into this drama — kudos to Del Rey for getting the scoop.)

★ Wednesday, 11 December 2019