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Michelle Gass, outgoing CEO of Kohl’s

CEO of Kohl’s will leave to become president of Levi Strauss

By Maredithe Meyer, staff writer

Kohl’s Corp. chief executive officer Michelle Gass will step down from her role on Dec. 2 to become the president of San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co.

With Gass’ departure, the Kohl’s board of directors has named board member Tom Kingsbury as interim CEO. He will serve in that role until a permanent successor is named.

Levi Strauss anticipates Gass will be promoted to CEO within 18 months of her January start date, according to an SEC filing. The company’s forthcoming employment agreement with Gass is expected to include a base salary of $1.48 million per year, with an initial target bonus of 175% of her

BY THE NUMBERS

Under a proposal, the City of Milwaukee would provide

$7 MILLION

to Fiserv to support the company’s plans to move downtown.

base salary; a one-time signing bonus of $8.1 million; and two stock grants, each worth $8.1 million. In addition, Gass would be eligible for around $3 million, or two years of her base salary, in severance if she is not promoted to CEO within 18 months and decides to leave the company as a result.

Gass had a base salary of $1.47 million at Kohl’s in 2021 and total compensation of $12.9 million, according to the company’s securities filings.

She joined Kohl’s Corp. in 2013 as chief customer officer and took over as CEO in May 2018 upon the retirement of Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s former chairman, chief executive officer and president.

During her tenure at Kohl’s, Gass led the company through numerous challenges, including retail industry headwinds, the COVID-19 pandemic and two near-board takeovers by activist investor groups. She spearheaded partnerships, such as Amazon Returns and Sephora at Kohl’s, in an effort to bring the retailer’s 65 million-customer base through its doors. The company currently operates nearly 1,200 stores across the country, largely in suburban markets. However, another one of Gass’ growth strategies includes the launch of an additional 100 small-format locations over the next four to five years, in markets considered too small to support the typical 80,000-square-foot full-size Kohl’s store. That includes downtown Milwaukee, where Kohl’s will open a 40,000-square-foot store in fall of 2023, on the ground floor of the HUB640 building at 640 Vel R. Phillips Ave.

A Kohl’s board member since 2021, Kingsbury has served in senior positions at leading retailers, including president and CEO of Burlington Stores; senior executive vice president of Kohl’s; and several management positions at The May Department Stores Co., including president and CEO of its Filene’s division. He is currently a director of Tractor Supply Co., BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. and Big Lots Inc.

Gass’ departure is something activist investor groups have called for over the past two years as part of efforts to shake up the company’s board room and drive additional shareholder value. Most recently, Cleveland-based wealth management firm Ancora Holdings Group LLC called for the removal of board chair Peter Boneparth and Gass in a Sept. 22 letter to the board. Commenting on Gass’ announced departure, Ancora chairman and CEO Fredrick DiSanto said now is “the right time for (Kohl’s) to pivot to a leadership team with enhanced operational expertise and strong turnaround experience.” n