Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly Sells 20 Percent Of His Stake To Help Pay For His Divorce

Many investors were surprised when Hubert Joly, the French businessman and CEO of Best Buy unloaded 451,153 of his company's shares, worth $16.7 million, last Friday. He paid $6.3 million to exercise stock options, so he netted just over $10 million through the sale. Joly's sale represented about 20% of his Best Buy stake. He holds about 476,000 shares after the sale, but a spokesman said Joly has received additional stock grants and options that have not yet been disclosed in company filings.

The reason for the sale? Joly needed to pay his divorce settlement. "This sale reflects only one thing -- Mr. Joly has recently gone through a divorce and needs to sell a portion of his holdings in order to cover the costs of that unfortunate event," said a statement released by the company. "He remains heavily invested in Best Buy."

Joly took over the company about a year ago as Best Buy's stock was in a slide. Prices continued to fall during his first few months but things have started looking up for Best Buy this year. The new CEO recently instituted price matching in order to stay competitive with online retailer Amazon.com, opened more in-store areas for manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung, and invested more to train employees.

Last month, Best Buy reported second-quarter results that topped analysts' estimates as it slashed costs and worked to make its website more competitive. The retailer has been shuttering underperforming stores and revamping others to offset tough competition from discounters and online retailers. Shares of Best Buy added 5 cents to $37.97 in afternoon trading. Earlier in the session, the stock hit $38, its highest point since December 2010. The stock has more than tripled since the start of the year.