Bath & Body Works brings on former Nike exec as new CEO

Leadership Change - Bath & Body Works has appointed Daniel Heaf, former chief strategy and transformation officer at Nike, as its new CEO effective immediately [1][5] - Heaf's appointment was unanimously approved by the company's board, and he is expected to join the board after the upcoming shareholder meeting in June [5] Previous CEO - Gina Boswell, who served as CEO since November 2022, is stepping down, and her contributions to stabilizing the business post-COVID were acknowledged by the board [3][4] - Boswell was temporarily absent for surgery in March, which may have influenced the leadership transition [4] Company Performance - Bath & Body Works reported preliminary first-quarter net sales of $1.42 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 3% [11] - The company anticipates annual net sales growth of 1-3% and expects earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $3.25 to $3.60 [9] Market Position - As of Monday afternoon, Bath & Body Works had a market capitalization of $7.19 billion [12] - The company operates nearly 1,900 locations in the U.S. and Canada, along with over 500 franchised stores internationally [12] Strategic Outlook - Heaf is recognized for his consumer-centric mindset and experience in driving innovation across global consumer and retail companies [8] - The leadership change comes amid challenges related to uncertain discretionary spending, which has impacted the company's sales and profit forecasts [8]