Dive Brief:
- Market Basket’s board of directors has named CFO Donald T. Mulligan as the grocer’s interim CEO, according to a Tuesday press release.
- The appointment follows the recent ouster of Arthur T. Demoulas from the top post after months of disagreement between him and the board.
- Mulligan is a longtime Market Basket employee, with more than four decades at the Northeast grocer.
Dive Insight:
Market Basket’s appointment comes a week after the grocer’s board voted unanimously to remove Arthur T. Demoulas from his roles as president and CEO after placing him on leave in May.
Mulligan began his career at an accounting firm in Massachusetts, where he worked with Market Basket and got to know company head Telemachus “Mike” Demoulas, who hired him full-time in 1983. Mulligan worked his way up, and in 1999, Market Basket promoted him to the CFO position.
“The Board has worked closely with Mr. Mulligan and has come to appreciate his exceptional business acumen, the respect and admiration our associates have for him, and his deep understanding of the history and culture that make Market Basket so special,” Board Chair Jay K. Hachigian said in a statement.
Market Basket’s board, which consists of Hachigan and two other members, filed a complaint earlier this month against Arthur T. Demoulas, alleging that he has stonewalled the grocer’s board in various ways. The complaint notes that Demoulas — who owns about 28% of Market Basket’s stock — contests his termination. The board placed Arthur T. Demoulas on leave this spring and said it was investigating his conduct, including claims that he planned to stage a work stoppage.
Market Basket runs about 90 supermarkets across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine.
