The CEO of Target, Gregg Steinhafel, has resigned after a hard few months in the wake of the major security breach that happened around Christmas. During the breach, millions of customers’ personal information was obtained by hackers. The company has been struggling to increase security and reassure customers since the incident, but has seen a massive decrease in profits. Steinhafel took responsibility for the catastrophe, and has put forth monumental effort to make necessary changes. However, the chairman has finally thrown in the towel. Steinhafel has also withdrawn from the board of directors and renounced his position as company president.
Change in Target Leadership
Company CFO John Mulligan will fill the positions of CEO and president while new leadership is determined. The company has announced its intention to start fresh in hopes of a better year with increased profits.
Target received wide praise for its decision to begin offering fresh groceries under Steinhafel’s leadership, and drew many new customers through its doors by offering five percent off if customers use Target’s debit or credit cards. However, the company was slow to expand to the mobile market and into Canada, and lost profits to their main competitor Wal-Mart as a result. The company hopes to avoid mistakes such as this in the future.
The security breach was by far the biggest blow to Target’s financial health, and the company has recently announced plans to take a big step in preventing this type of breach in the future. Target hopes to become the first major retailer in the United States to offer cards with chip-and-PIN technology.