Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen has resigned after an internal investigation into his personal conduct.

Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, said Monday that the investigation into McMullen’s personal conduct was unrelated to the business, but was found to be inconsistent with its business ethics policy.

Board member Ronald Sargent will serve as chairman and interim CEO, effective immediately.

Sargent has been on Kroger’s board since 2006 and has served as the lead director of the company since 2017. He’s worked in several roles at the grocery chain across stores, sales, marketing, manufacturing and strategy. Sargent is also the former Chairman and CEO of Staples.

McMullen, 64, began his career with Kroger in 1978 as a part-time stock clerk and bagger at a store in Lexington, Ky. He worked his way up through the company, becoming chief financial officer in 1995 and chief operating officer in 2009. McMullen was named Kroger’s CEO in 2014 and became the company’s chairman the following year.

Cincinnati-based Kroger said its board was made aware of the situation on Feb. 21 and immediately hired an outside independent counsel to conduct an investigation, overseen by a special board committee.

The company said that McMullen’s conduct is not related to its financial performance, operations or reporting, and did not involve any Kroger associates.

Kroger will conduct a search for its next CEO, with Sargent agreeing to remain as interim CEO until someone is appointed to the role permanently.

Kroger shares fell nearly 3% Monday.

McMullen’s departure comes as Kroger is regrouping from its failed effort to merger with Albertsons. The two companies proposed what would have been the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history in 2022, saying they needed to combine forces to better compete with rivals like Walmart.

But two judges halted the $24.6 billion deal in December, saying it was likely to lessen competition and raise prices. Albertsons later sued Kroger, saying it had failed to make every effort to ensure that the merger would win regulatory approval.

Also Monday, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons said its CEO Vivek Sankaran plans to retire May 1. Susan Morris, Albertsons’ executive vice president and chief operations officer, will replace Sankaran, the company said.

— Associated Press

Trump plans U.S. crypto reserve

Cryptocurrency prices briefly jumped after President Donald Trump’s announcement he wants the U.S. government to purchase and hold a variety of digital assets in a strategic reserve fund, an announcement that highlights Trump’s growing attempts to use volatile cryptocurrency prices as a barometer of his public support.

Trump said on social media Sunday that his administration is working toward creating a “Crypto Strategic Reserve” that will include lesser-known cryptocurrencies XRP, solana, and cardano.

He later followed up with another post saying his planned reserve would also include bitcoin and ether, the two most popular cryptocurrencies.

The announcement helped crypto prices enjoy a brief rebound after recent sell-offs. Bitcoin shot up to about $95,000 after dipping below $80,000 last week. XRP, solana and cardano saw massive spikes in their prices after Trump’s announcement Sunday.

But by Monday afternoon, prices had fallen back to where they were before Trump’s announcement. U.S. stocks also fell sharply Monday after Trump confirmed plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.

Oil prices drop on OPEC production increases

Oil prices fell Monday to their lowest level of the year after the OPEC oil cartel and its allies affirmed plans to gradually increase crude production beginning in April.

Opening the taps in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, which have voluntarily throttled supply to prop up prices, increases the risk that the world could soon find itself with more oil than it needs. The group said it would raise production by 2.2 million barrels a day, or about 2% of global demand, over many months.

That would be good news for consumers, who generally benefit when energy costs less, but squeeze the profits of oil producers and the countries and states where they operate.

U.S. oil prices settled at $68.37 a barrel Monday, down 2%. At that price it’s generally profitable to drill new wells in the United States, which produces more oil than any other country by far. Many more wells are not profitable when oil sells for $60 a barrel or less.

— From news services