--- title: Controversial Abercrombie CEO Steps Down description: Michael Jeffries, the CEO who called his brand "exclusionary" and only for "cool kids," is stepping down. authors: - name: Jacob Davidson url: https://money.com/author/jacob-davidson/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 106 covers: - Business - Banking - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/JakeD former_staff: true published: '2014-12-09T16:02:52.000Z' modified: '2014-12-09T16:02:52.000Z' section: Business tags: - abercrombie - Clothing - Controversial - controversy - H&M - Investing - Michael Jeffries - Retail - Shopping word_count: 292 canonical: https://money.com/michael-jeffries-abercrombie-ceo-resigns/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** Money may earn a commission when you click on the products and services below. Opinions are our own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how they appear. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/) about how we make money. ![Michael S. Jeffries, chairman and CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.](https://img.money.com/2014/12/141209_em_abercrombie1.jpg) *Michael S. Jeffries, former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.* Michael Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, is retiring effective immediately, the clothing retailer [announced on Tuesday](http://www.abercrombie.com/anf/investors/investorrelations.html). Jeffries, who made headlines with tone-deaf comments about the company's business practices, was relieved of his duties as chairman in January after investors became dissatisfied with his leadership. Abercrombie stock—which rose more than 6% on the news—is down more than 60% from its highs in 2006-2007 and down almost 20% in the last year. Jeffries, who during his 20-year tenure with the company turned it into a [trendy powerhouse](http://archive.today/9Bew#selection-643.741-643.828) with more than $1 billion in sales, took heat in recent years for [failing to keep up with "fast fashion" brands like Forever 21 and Zara](http://nypost.com/2014/01/28/abercrombie-fitch-strips-mike-jeffries-of-chairman-title/) and falling out of favor with its primary teen demographic. But the now-former CEO also tarnished the brand through a series of poorly conceived public statements and business decisions that alienated potential customers. In an infamous 2006 interview with *Salon*, Jeffries [bragged](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/15/watch-abercrombie-fitch-for-the-homeless/): > In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids... A lot of people don't belong \[in our clothes\], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. And: > That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that. That [interview](http://www.salon.com/2006/01/24/jeffries/) later resurfaced in 2013, along with news that Abercrombie was [refusing to offer plus-size clothing](http://www.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-wants-thin-customers-2013-5), even as competitors like H&M began to make their sizing more inclusive. Together, the revelations caused renewed backlash against the brand. According to the company's announcement, a management team led by Executive Chairman Arthur Martinez will manage the company until a new CEO is appointed. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jeffries-abercrombie-ceo-resigns/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Business", "item": "https://money.com/business/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Company Culture", "item": "https://money.com/company-culture/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Controversial Abercrombie CEO Steps Down" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jeffries-abercrombie-ceo-resigns/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/michael-jeffries-abercrombie-ceo-resigns/", "name": "Controversial Abercrombie CEO Steps Down", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-12-09T16:02:52.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jeffries-abercrombie-ceo-resigns/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jeffries-abercrombie-ceo-resigns/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2014-12-09T16:02:52.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Controversial Abercrombie CEO Steps Down", "articleSection": "Business", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/12/141209_em_abercrombie1.jpg", "width": 3996, "height": 2781, "caption": "141209_EM_Abercrombie" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jacob Davidson", "url": "https://money.com/author/jacob-davidson/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/jacob-davidson/#author", "image": "https://money.com/content.money.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jake-davidson-2.jpg?crop=35px%2C18px%2C872px%2C872px&resize=640%2C640&quality=85&strip&ssl=1", "email": "jake.davidson@yoh.timeinc.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/JakeD" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-12-09T16:02:52.000Z", "description": "Michael Jeffries, the CEO who called his brand \"exclusionary\" and only for \"cool kids,\" is stepping down.", "abstract": "Michael Jeffries, the CEO who called his brand \"exclusionary\" and only for \"cool kids,\" is stepping down.", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jeffries-abercrombie-ceo-resigns/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2014-12-09T16:02:52.000Z", "wordCount": 292, "keywords": [ "abercrombie", "Clothing", "Controversial", "controversy", "H&M", "Investing", "Michael Jeffries", "Retail", "Shopping" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Business", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Organizational culture", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture" ] } ] } ] } ```