Natalie Massenet leaves Net-a-Porter

New York - In a move that sent the fashion industry in an uproar, Natalie Massenet, the founder of luxury e-commerce site Net-a-Porter, will be resigning from the company. Massenet's most previous role was as the company's Executive Chairman. Upon returning from her recent vacation, she tendered her resignation letter and sold her shares in Net-a-Porter.

The savvy entrepreneur will be walking away with 153 million dollars after her departure from the company. In March, Net-a-Porter announced that they would be merging with Italian luxury e-commerce competitor Yoox, and in July, Yoox's shareholders gave the green-light to finalize the deal. The merger will be completed sometime next month in October.

Massenet's full resignation announcement reads as follows: YOOX S.p.A. (MTA:YOOX) announces that, following Natalie Massenet’s tendering of her resignation today as Executive Chairman of THE-NET-A-PORTER GROUP, Ms. Massenet will not be a member of the Board of Directors of the new Group, which will result from the upcoming merger.

In a surprise move, Natalie Massenet exits Net-a-Porter

Massenet was originally supposed to be chairman of Net-a-Porter upon the merger with Yoox SpA. It is not yet known who will be taking that role instead. While Yoox has revealed that Massenet has resigned, Massenet herself as refused to comment on the matter, with her representatives declining to comment and being unreachable by phone or e-mail. When the merger between Yoox Group and Net-a-Porter was first announced, Luca Solca, an Exane BNP Paribas analyst, said that it made little sense for Massenet to stay at the company because she would just be in charge of editorial content and advertising strategy.

The deal between Yoox Group and Net-a-Porter is expected to create the world's largest online luxury goods retailer. When Massenet originally spoke with Bloomberg TV in July she implied that she would stay, saying that "we're going to be the same, but bigger" in regards to the merger. Yoox founder Frederico Marchetti even called her appointed "a long-term partnership", but, it looks like it is the partnership that will never be.

photo:The Zoe Report