Samsonite International SA said CEO Ramesh Tainwala had stepped down, leaving less than week after a short-seller attacked accounting practices that involved entities owned by his family and accused him of resume padding.
The world’s largest luggage maker said Tainwala had resigned for personal reasons, but its board took seriously allegations about his academic credentials and his departure was “in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.”
Samsonite also issued a 9-page response to other allegations made by new launched short seller Blue Orca, repeating its stance that the report was one-sided and misleading. It added its auditor KPMG had not withdrawn its audit opinions, nor indicated it would do so.
Shares surge
Analysts praised the swift action but it remains to be seen if Samsonite has done enough to resolve the issue. Its shares surged 12% on Friday but are still down more than 10% since the attack.
