Ashley Buchanan’s career has been a mix of high-profile successes and sudden, dramatic downfalls, but his personal life remains something of a mystery. The former Kohl’s CEO, who was abruptly fired in May 2025 after just four months on the job, has made headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. While his professional missteps are well-documented, what’s less clear is whether he’s married, who his partner might be, and how his personal relationships played into his shocking exit from Kohl’s. The whole situation reads like a corporate drama, complete with secret relationships, financial penalties, and a retail giant scrambling to save face.
Buchanan’s story took a sharp turn when Kohl’s announced his termination following an internal investigation. The company found that he had steered vendor business toward a company owned by Chandra Holt, a former Walmart colleague with whom he had a personal relationship. The details are murky, but the arrangement reportedly involved unusual terms that raised red flags.
What’s interesting is that Buchanan never disclosed the connection, which violated Kohl’s conflict-of-interest policies. The fallout was brutal. Not only did he lose his job, but he also had to give up $15 million in stock awards and repay a chunk of his signing bonus. For a guy who had just taken the helm in January, it was a spectacularly short and costly tenure.
Does Ashley Buchanan Have a Wife? Is He Even Married?
Before the Kohl’s disaster, Buchanan had a solid reputation in retail leadership. He spent years climbing the ranks at Walmart and Sam’s Club, eventually becoming CEO of Michaels, the arts-and-crafts chain, in 2020. His move to Kohl’s was supposed to be a fresh start for a struggling retailer, but instead, it ended in scandal. The whole situation leaves people wondering: Was this a case of poor judgment, or was there more going on behind the scenes? The fact that Holt’s company, Incredibrew, got tangled up in the mess adds another layer of intrigue. Were these business dealings purely professional at first, or did the personal relationship blur the lines from the beginning?
As for Buchanan’s marital status, that’s where things get even hazier. There’s no public record of a wife, and the only relationship that’s come up in connection with him is the one with Holt. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s single, but it does raise questions. If he was married during this time, his spouse has stayed completely out of the spotlight. If he wasn’t, then the Holt situation becomes the central personal subplot in this saga. Either way, the lack of information suggests Buchanan keeps his private life tightly under wraps, at least until a scandal forces it into the open.
The bigger picture here is what this means for Kohl’s, a company that’s been through three CEOs in three years. Buchanan’s firing is just the latest in a string of leadership shake-ups, and it doesn’t inspire confidence in the brand’s future. The retail world is tough enough without adding internal drama to the mix. Investors are nervous, employees are uncertain, and customers are left wondering if the company can even stay afloat. Buchanan’s mistakes didn’t just cost him his job—they added fuel to an already raging fire.
What’s next for Ashley Buchanan? That’s anyone’s guess. CEOs who leave under a cloud don’t always get a second chance, at least not right away. He might lay low for a while, consult, or try to pivot to a different industry. As for Chandra Holt, her business is now tied to this mess, whether she wanted it to be or not. The whole episode serves as a cautionary tale about mixing personal and professional relationships at the highest levels of corporate power. One wrong move, one undisclosed connection, and everything can unravel in an instant.
The weirdest part of this story is how little we actually know. For a guy who was in such a visible position, Buchanan’s personal life is strangely opaque. Maybe that’s intentional. Maybe he’s always been careful about keeping work and private matters separate—until he wasn’t. Whatever the case, his sudden fall from grace is a reminder that even the most polished executives can crash hard when ethics and judgment come into question. And for Kohl’s, the search for stability continues, with Buchanan now just another name on the list of leaders who couldn’t turn things around.
