Who Is Farooq Kathwari? Ethan Allen’s Longtime CEO Is Out
Updated November 10, 2026 (ET).
Photo: Center for Strategic & International Studies, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Farooq Kathwari’s nearly four-decade run as Ethan Allen’s chief executive ended this week, after an activist investor took control of the furniture retailer’s board.
On November 9, 2026, Ethan Allen Interiors appointed Stefanie Tsen Ward, a former Neiman Marcus Group executive, as interim chief executive, effective immediately, and said Kathwari “is no longer with the Company,” according to a company news release issued the next morning. The newly constituted board named Douglas G. Bergeron, who had campaigned to replace Kathwari, as executive chairman, and said it would conduct an independent search for a permanent CEO. Shares opened sharply lower on Tuesday, November 10, after that announcement and a weaker first-quarter report issued late Monday. Yahoo Finance showed Ethan Allen last closing at $20.35 on Monday and opening at $17.53, with an early-session low of $17.40.
Farooq Kathwari: Quick facts
Full name: M. Farooq Kathwari.
Born: August 16, 1944, in Srinagar, Kashmir (age 82 as of November 10, 2026), according to a Newsmakers biography. The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame also lists his birth year as 1944.
Known for: Longtime chairman, president, and CEO of Ethan Allen Interiors; a Kashmir-born executive who led the company from 1988 until November 2026.
Education: Undergraduate degrees in English literature and political science from Kashmir University, and an MBA in international marketing from New York University in 1968, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Hall of Fame.
Early career: Came to the United States from Kashmir as a student at age 21; sold hand-crafted accessories from Kashmir while earning his MBA; formed a home-accessories joint venture with Ethan Allen in 1973 that merged into the company in 1980.
Ethan Allen path: President since 1985; chairman and CEO since 1988; led a group that bought the company in 1989 and took it public in 1993.
Latest news: Left the company on November 9, 2026, after shareholders declined to reelect him to the board; Stefanie Tsen Ward was named interim CEO.
How did Farooq Kathwari rise at Ethan Allen?
Kathwari was born in Srinagar, Kashmir, and came to the United States as a student at age 21, according to the Hall of Fame. USCIS, which later recognized him as an Outstanding American by Choice, says he earned undergraduate degrees in English literature and political science at Kashmir University and a graduate business degree at New York University.
While completing that MBA, he sold hand-crafted decorative accessories from Kashmir. In 1973, he and Ethan Allen formed a joint venture to develop home accessories; the business merged into Ethan Allen in 1980, the Hall of Fame says. He became president in 1985 and chairman and CEO in 1988. In 1989, USCIS and the Hall of Fame say, he led a group that purchased the company, and he took it public in 1993.
Under his leadership, Ethan Allen moved beyond the Colonial-style furniture long associated with the brand. Business of Home, writing during the 2026 proxy fight, described him as having introduced more contemporary products and new marketing while keeping the Ethan Allen name. The company, founded in 1932 and based in Danbury, Connecticut, still presents itself as a vertically integrated manufacturer-retailer: it says it makes about 75% of its custom furniture in its own North American plants and sells through a mix of company-operated and licensee design centers. Kathwari published a memoir, Trailblazer: from the Mountains of Kashmir to the Summit of Global Business and Beyond, in September 2019, according to his official biography.
Why did Farooq Kathwari leave Ethan Allen?
The departure followed a months-long fight with Bergeron, who together with affiliates said he beneficially owned approximately 5.2% of Ethan Allen, according to a November 4 statement. In August, Bergeron’s vehicle, DGB Investment, Inc., nominated an alternative board slate and criticized Kathwari’s long tenure. As Retail Dive later reported, he had slammed the company’s leadership and argued that the business was underperforming. In an August 5 letter to shareholders, quoted by Home News Now, Bergeron wrote that “Ethan Allen’s business is behaving like a melting ice cube,” and pointed to a long decline in annual revenue.
Ethan Allen’s fiscal 2026 year-end release reported consolidated net sales of $579.5 million, down from $614.6 million a year earlier, and GAAP net income of $39.9 million, down from $51.6 million. The company also stressed a debt-free balance sheet and $187.5 million in cash and investments at year-end.
Ethan Allen’s board pushed back. In an October 12, 2026 letter to shareholders, it argued that handing the company to Bergeron’s slate during an active CEO search would create “unnecessary risk,” that DGB had not presented an executable operating plan, and that “claiming the potential to triple shareholder value is not an operating plan.” The board pointed to gross margins above 59% for five straight years and to digital tools it said were already in place.
Under pressure from the campaign, the company had already begun a formal succession process. In a September 21, 2026 release, the board said it would announce a new CEO no later than June 30, 2027, when Kathwari’s contract was scheduled to end, and that he had agreed to remain as a non-executive director until the 2027 annual meeting. Kathwari said then: “I fully support the Board-led, independent CEO succession process. As Ethan Allen’s largest shareholder, I remain deeply invested in the Company’s long-term success and committed to helping ensure a smooth and seamless leadership transition.”
Shareholders did not wait for that timetable. At the November 4, 2026 annual meeting, they elected two company nominees, Maria Eugenia Casar and Tara I. Stacom, and three DGB nominees: Bergeron, Kristine E. Miller, and Stephen Oblak. Kathwari was not reelected. A company Form 8-K reporting the certified results shows he received 7,379,087 votes for and 13,255,799 withheld. Lead independent director David M. Sable and director Cynthia Ekberg Tsai were also not elected. Five days later, the new board appointed Ward as interim CEO and said Kathwari was no longer with the company.
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What happens at Ethan Allen now?
Ward, formerly chief integrated retail and customer officer at Neiman Marcus Group, will run day-to-day operations and “begin execution of its strategic reset” while the board searches for a permanent CEO, the company said. Bergeron is executive chairman; Miller is lead independent director. The board also appointed Anna Brockway, Lindsay O’Reilly, Adam Treanor, and Ward as directors, joining those elected on November 4. Bergeron called November 9 “Day One of our 100 day plan” and said new directors were in Danbury and would visit manufacturing plants in Vermont, Virginia, and North Carolina.
The leadership news arrived on top of soft quarterly results. After the market close on November 9, Ethan Allen reported fiscal first-quarter consolidated net sales of $129.6 million, down from $147.0 million a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share of $0.07, or $0.10 on an adjusted basis, compared with adjusted diluted EPS of $0.43 a year earlier. The company ended the quarter with $92.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and no outstanding debt, after paying $92.2 million in cash dividends, including special dividends of $3.25 per share.
Bergeron, in his November 4 statement after the vote, said shareholders had given his team “the mandate to restore accountability, revitalize the business and return Ethan Allen to profitable growth,” while adding that he would work with Kathwari “to ensure an orderly transition” and recognizing “his decades of service to the Company.” The November 10 company release did not include a statement from Kathwari.
Frequently asked questions about Farooq Kathwari
Is Farooq Kathwari still Ethan Allen’s CEO?
No. Ethan Allen said that as of November 9, 2026, Stefanie Tsen Ward is interim chief executive and that Kathwari “is no longer with the Company.”
How long did Farooq Kathwari run Ethan Allen?
He was president from 1985 and chairman and CEO from 1988 until November 2026—nearly 38 years as chief executive, and more than four decades in the company’s senior ranks.
Why was Farooq Kathwari replaced?
Shareholders at the November 4, 2026 annual meeting did not reelect him to the board, after a proxy fight led by Doug Bergeron. The new board then appointed an interim CEO and said Kathwari had left the company, ahead of a contract that had been set to run to June 30, 2027.
Where is Farooq Kathwari from?
He was born in Srinagar, Kashmir, and came to the United States as a student, according to the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame and USCIS. He later earned an MBA from New York University.
Who is running Ethan Allen now?
Stefanie Tsen Ward is interim CEO. Douglas G. Bergeron is executive chairman. The board has said it is conducting an independent search for a permanent chief executive.
Further reading
Retail Dive: Ethan Allen CEO out as chair after activist board shakeup
Ethan Allen: Preliminary voting results of the 2026 annual meeting
Ethan Allen Form 8-K: Certified annual-meeting vote results (November 6, 2026)
Ethan Allen: Board letter to shareholders (October 12, 2026)
Doug Bergeron: Statement on preliminary annual-meeting results (November 4, 2026)
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