Sanford C. Bernstein

Best Buy continued its management upheaval Thursday as its founder, Richard Schulze, said he would leave the board earlier than expected.Schulze, who started the company more than 40 years ago, also said he was looking at ways to sell his 20.1 percent stake in the retailer, worth about $1.3 billion.It is the latest personnel retreat for the retailer stemming from the abrupt resignation of the former chief executive, Brian J. Dunn, in April. Last month, the board reported that Dunn had had an inappropriate relationship with a female employee. An internal investigation revealed that Schulze had known about the

Avon Products, famous for sending its representatives door to door, is losing traction in the U.S., where many time-stressed consumers are increasingly buying their cosmetics online. Operating profit per representative in the U.S. has plunged 75 percent over the past decade, according to an analysis by Sanford C. Bernstein.

Amid declining sales, rising commodity costs and a U.S. grand jury investigation into whether ex-employees in China paid bribes to officials in violation of U.S. anti-corruption laws, cosmetics giant Avon Products' CEO Andrea Jung said the company doesn't expect its margins to improve this year.