Sleep Number CEO Shelly Ibach will retire before the company’s annual meeting this spring, an announcement that came along with the news that the company lost money in the third quarter.
Ibach, who has been president and CEO since 2012, added board chair to her duties in May 2022. The company announced her retirement along with its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday.
The company lost $3.1 million, or 14 cents a share, during the summer months. Revenue declined 10% year over year to $426.6 million, which missed Wall Street expectations. Sleep Number has struggled with comparative numbers since the pandemic, when a surge in home improvement purchases had an outsized positive effect on the company’s results.
Under Ibach’s tenure as a whole, the company strengthened its Sleep Number brand — so much so it changed its name from Select Comfort to match the name of its stores and products. Ibach also moved the company’s headquarters from Plymouth to downtown Minneapolis. The company also signed a licensing deal with the National Football League, among other achievements.
“I am filled with gratitude for my nearly 18 years at Sleep Number and our team members’ unwavering dedication to our mission and purpose, which has led to improving almost 16 million lives through our beloved brand,” Ibach said in a release. She joined Sleep Number as a marketing executive before being appointed president and CEO.
Ibach will continue to serve as the company’s chair through the annual meeting, when the company will propose that lead independent director Michael Harrison assume the role of executive chair. Longtime board members Steve Gulis and Brenda Lauderback also announced they will retire at the next annual meeting.
“Throughout her 12-year tenure as CEO, Shelly transformed the company by consistently demonstrating visionary, results-oriented leadership and driving significant business innovation,” Harrison said in a release. “Her authenticity has inspired the commitment of the entire Sleep Number team to its purpose: to improve the health and wellbeing of society through higher quality sleep.”
Ibach is one of six female CEOs among the companies that make up the Star Tribune 50 list of Minnesota’s largest public companies. The others: Corie Barry of Best Buy, Celeste Mastin of H.B. Fuller, Beth Wozniak of nVent, Bethany Owen of Allete and Sheri Dodd of Tactile Medical. In addition Fortune 500 firms Land O’Lakes and Thrivent also are led by women, Beth Ford and Terry Rasmussen, respectively.
