May 2012: Board forces Richard Schulze to immediately resign as chairman and leave the company in 2013. An outside investigation determines that Schulze did not inform the board of allegations that CEO Brian Dunn used company resources to carry on an affair with a female employee. In exchange for Dunn's resignation, the board approves a separation agreement worth $4 million -- presumably to compensate Dunn for not working at a competitor for three years.
June 2012: Director Rogelio Rebolledo retires. The board approves $500,000 "retention" payments to each of the company four senior executives in an effort to retain the company's top executive talent. Two of them -- Chief Financial Officer James Muehlbauer and U.S. retail chief Mike Vitelli -- leave the company within months.
July 2012: Don Delves, who worked with Best Buy's compensation committee for seven years as an independent consultant, resigns. Sources say he opposed the retention payments because they were not tied to performance. August 2012: Board declines Schulze's request to examine confidential financial information, calling his buyout "a highly conditional indication of interest." Eventually, the two sides work out a process for Schulze to make an offer by mid-November.
September 2012: Board hires Hubert Joly as CEO.
November 2012: Board grants Schulze a 30-day extension to original buyout deadline.
December 2012: Both sides agree to extend the deadline again to February. Director G. "Mike" Mikan resigns, while director Matthew Paull will step down in April.
