Restoration Hardware Chairman Quits After Inquiry Into Relationship With Employee

August 17, 2012 · 0 Comments

gary friedman

Gary Friedman, who runs Restoration Hardware, quit after an internal inquiry into an allegedly intimate relationship he had with a 26-year-old employee.

He’s stepping down as the furniture chain is preparing for an IPO, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Dealbook writer at the New York Times, reported.

The company learned about the relationship from the ex-boyfriend of the female employee, who has since left the company. She’s still dating Friedman, who is divorced, Sorkin wrote.

Friendman is largely credited for the company’s turnaround a decade ago:

“Mr. Friedman, 54, often appears in the company’s catalogs in jeans and a T-shirt and is considered the driving force behind the company’s vision and aesthetic, which includes high-priced faux antique furniture and hardware accessories. Mr. Friedman started his career as a stock boy at the Gap in San Francisco and was plucked out of obscurity by Mickey Drexler, the merchant prince who built Gap and now runs J. Crew.

Mr. Friedman worked his way up at Gap and later became the president and chief operating officer of Williams-Sonoma. He joined Restoration Hardware in 2001 when it was near bankruptcy and is widely credited with turning it into one of the nation’s most successful high-end furniture retailers.”

Sorkin reports that boards are being stricter than ever with executive behavior. He cited the case of Mark Hurd, the former CEO of HP who was ousted because of a relationship with a subordinate.