Staples CEO to Step Down

Staples, Framingham, Mass., announced on Tuesday that the board of directors and CEO Ron Sargent mutually have agreed that Sargent will step down from his position after the company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders on June 14. Shira Goodman, president of North American Operations, will become interim CEO.

This news comes shortly after a federal judge blocked the merger of Staples and Office Depot.

According to a press release from Staples, Sargent will continue to serve as a director and non-executive chairman through the 2016 fiscal year ending on January 28, 2017. With the assistance of an executive search firm, a special committee of the board will evaluate internal and external candidates to identify the company's next permanent CEO.

"The entire board would like to thank Ron for his nearly three decades of dedicated service and leadership at Staples," Robert E. Sulentic, independent lead director of the Staples board of directors, said in the press release. "With the termination of the merger, we mutually agreed that now is the right time to transition to new management to lead Staples through its next phase of growth."

"It has been an incredible honor to have worked with the talented and dedicated team at Staples for the past 27 years through a dynamic and ground-breaking time for the company, our customers and the retail industry overall," Sargent said in the release. "Following close collaboration over the past several years, I am confident in Shira's and the team's ability to deliver substantial shareholder value."

Goodman was president of Staples North American Commercial since February 2014, and has been with the company for 23 years.

"I am excited to take on this new role as the Staples team executes our strategic initiatives to drive shareholder value and position Staples for the next phase of growth," Goodman said in the release. "I am confident that we can do so by intensifying our focus on our best growth opportunites with mid-market business customers in North America and in key categories beyond office supplies."

For more information on Staples, visit www.staples.com.