Activist Investor Urges Abercrombie & Fitch to Show Longtime CEO the Door

Activist investor Engaged Capital fired off a letter to Abercrombie & Fitch's (A&F) board of directors on Tuesday urging the teen apparel maker to find a new CEO or consider a sale of the struggling company. The move by Engaged Capital, which said it owns about 400,000 shares of A&F, drove the company's shares 5 percent higher. The activist investor cited A&F's "operational missteps," CEO Michael Jeffries’ age and "his increasingly controversial reputation." Jeffries, 68, is credited with creating the valuable Hollister brand and repositioning A&F. His contract is up for renewal on Feb. 1.