James Muehlbauer

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that CFO James Muehlbauer has resigned the company. He will continue in an advisory capacity until Feb. 3. The retailer said it has launched a search for a permanent replacement. Muehlbauer’s resignation is the...

Minneapolis -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that Best Buy compensation consultant Don Delves resigned after Best Buy awarded more than 100 managers retention bonuses that weren’t tied to performance. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that Delves – who is president of Chicago-based Delves Group and was retained by the Best Buy board -- was strongly opposed to the payments. He has worked with the retailer’s compensation committee for seven years as an independent consultant. CFO James Muehlbauer and U.S head Michael Vitelli are said to be among executives awarded extra pay as incentive

Saying his goals are to "shrink the company's physical footprint and substantially reduce our cost structure," Best Buy interim CEO Mike Mikan provided details about the struggling retailer's plans to reduce costs by $800 million over the next three years. Mikan and his team are in the process of creating a turnaround blueprint designed to use IT, customer services and predictive analytics to more closely connect Best Buy to consumers. During Q1 of fiscal 2013, which ended May 5, 2012, the retailer closed 41 of the 50 underperforming big-box stores.