Aniket PujariThis story is part of CNBC Make It’s The Moment series, where highly successful people reveal the critical moment that changed the trajectory of their lives and careers, discussing what drove them to make the leap into the unknown.
When Walmart approached Andy Dunn about buying his upstart online apparel retailer Bonobos for $310 million in 2017, Dunn had a secret.
The Bonobos co-founder and then-CEO was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 20. He kept it quiet for nearly two decades — believing that nobody would want to work for him or financially back his company if they knew — and stayed mostly untreated until 2016, when a psychotic break landed him in a psychiatric ward facing assault charges.
The charges were quickly dropped, so Dunn’s arrest wasn’t public knowledge at the time. Still, it shocked him into action, he says: He spent the next year testing different medications and embracing healthier habits like getting more sleep, meditating and attending therapy twice per week.
“I thought I might lose everything,” says Dunn, now 46. “My job, my freedom, my reputation, my girlfriend.”
The Walmart offer would give Bonobos resources to keep growing while creating liquidity for shareholders and allow Dunn to retain control of the business, he told Vox at the time. But any acquisition would likely trigger background checks. The revelation of his arrest could kill the deal, he feared, and jeopardize his role running a company he’d steered to more than $100 million in annual revenue.
Dunn faced two options: Decline the lucrative acquisition offer, which he saw as Bonobos’ best path for growth, or address his diagnosis head-on with Walmart. The latter was “scary,” he says, but he chose it anyway — partially to set an example for other entrepreneurs, who are more likely to struggle with mental health issues than other people, research suggests.
The transparency approach worked. After a few nerve-wracking weeks, the deal moved ahead, and Dunn spent three years at Walmart before leaving in 2020 to launch social media startup Pie. (A spokesperson for Dunn declined to confirm how much money the Bonobos co-founder received from the sale to Walmart.)
Dunn still serves as an advisor to Bonobos, which Walmart sold to WHP Global and Express for $75 million in 2023. Ultimately, his breakdown did change his life, he says — just not the way he feared. “It’s so weird that the worst thing ever is 1742567042 the best thing,” he says.
Here, Dunn discusses why he decided to be honest and open during Bonobos’ acquisition process, the nerve-wracking weeks that followed, and how to balance entrepreneurial passion with the objectivity you need to make good decisions.
CNBC Make It: When Walmart first showed interest in an acquisition, did you immediately think about having to disclose your arrest record and bipolar diagnosis?
Dunn: It was a really challenging situation. We had a $300 million deal on the table. I knew that there would be background checks, and I knew that there was this police blotter floating out there. And I didn’t want it to be something that surprised them.
So it’s like, when do you say something? And my answer to that was: Say it as late as you can without compromising trust.
I flew down to Bentonville [where Walmart is headquartered], and I spent time getting to know the whole executive team, because I wanted everyone to know me [before] this came up. Most of the terms had been negotiated. There was a really compelling role that had been crafted for me.
But then what happens when, literally the previous year, I was arrested and charged with felony assault? It was a scary thing to talk about. But I also felt like, we’ve got to move to a world where mental health conditions don’t hold us back professionally.
How did you tell Walmart’s executive team?
I told the head of HR, “Hey, when you do my background check, you’re going to find this arrest record. When I was 20, I was diagnosed with bipolar and wasn’t really dealing with it. I had a major flare up last year. And, unfortunately, I was arrested during that.” I explained that all of the charges were dismissed.
She got very pale. She didn’t see that coming, right? But, the great thing she said was: “I understand. Let me speak to Doug [McMillon, Walmart’s CEO] and we’ll get back to you.”
I sent them my psychiatric records, and then I had a couple of weeks of wondering [what would happen]. They came back, and [said], “Hey, we see your treatment. We see you’re taking care of yourself. We understand you’ve got a clean bill of health, psychiatrically. And we’re excited to move forward with the transaction.”
It was a magical day.
How nerve-wracking was it, waiting weeks for the fate of the deal and your role in the company?
Very, partly because so many other people’s fates felt linked to this. I felt like a lot of people [including all Bonobos employees and investors] had a stake in it, and this thing that happened to me could compromise that.
That’s a lot to carry, to feel. And, also to be like: It’s not my fault, but it kind of is my fault, because I didn’t deal with it when I was diagnosed.
What’s the best advice you can give — to anyone — on sharing their mental health struggles with other people, especially if they’re nervous about it?
Nobody cares, in the best way.
If we’re lucky in life, we have five people who really care about us: our parents, maybe a partner, a couple friends. No one [else] is thinking about you every day.
When you share something that feels like it should be private, it’s a massive deal to you, because it feels like, “This is going to change how they think about me.” But the truth is, they’re not thinking about you almost ever, except for when you’re with them.
There’s this paradox that the thing you most don’t want to say is exactly the thing to say, if what you care about is human connection. What if we could use the moments when we’re with others to be unvarnished, and to disclose things that would normally not be disclosed?
And the cool thing about disclosure is: It invites reciprocal disclosure. It’s an invitation for someone else to unburden themselves later.
Has your definition of success changed since Bonobos first launched, or even since the Walmart acquisition?
When I was building Bonobos, it was the most important thing to me. It felt like life or death. It was the source of my identity, a source of great insecurity.
When my son was born [in 2020], I felt like I moved from being the sun to a planet, from the center of my universe to orbiting someone else that was more important. Now, Pie is important to me, but it’s not as important to me as Isaiah.
I’ve heard from other entrepreneurs that the easiest time to be an entrepreneur in their lives was when they were parents, because you have this built-in boundary of something else you have to concern yourself with. It creates perspective. I just get less emotional.
A lot of passion is required [to run a business]. But objectivity — [and not] being overly empathetic — actually leads to more efficient decision-making, and ultimately better outcomes.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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