Target boss is finally OUT five months after hackers hit 70 million customers
The massive data breach at American store chain Target has has, finally, cost the company's CEO his job.
Steinhafel: 35-year veteram
Gregg Steinhafel is out nearly five months after the retailer disclosed the breach, believed to have affected up to 70 million customers which has badly damaged its reputation
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He is the first CEO of a major corporation to resign in the wake of a data breach .”It underscores how CEOs are now becoming more at risk in an era when such breaches have become common,” said the San Jose Mercury News.
Target is America’s third-largest retailer. Steinhafel, a 35-year veteran of the company and CEO since 2008, has agreed to step down, effective immediately.
The hackers' theft of credit and debit card information on millions of customers has hammered the company. The company's sales, profit and stock price have all suffered since the breach .
A company spokeswoman declined to give specifics on when the decision was reached. But in a statement on Monday, the board said that after extensive discussions with Steinhafel, they both "have decided it is the right time for new leadership at Target."
Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan has been appointed interim president and CEO. Roxanne S. Austin, a member of Target's board, has been named as interim nonexecutive chair of the board. Steinhafel will serve in an advisory capacity during the transition.
In March, Target said in its annual report that the breach has spawned dozens of legal actions and said it can't estimate how big the bill will be.
Target has admitted that security software picked up on "suspicious activity" after the cyber attack was launched, but the company decided not to take immediate action because it believed it did not warrant immediate follow-up.
MasterCard . is to provide Target with a more secure chip-and-PIN technology for its cards next year- making the chain the first major U.S. retailer to have this technology, which is commonplace in Britain.