Tesco executive William Linanne was reinstated at Britain's biggest food retailer on February 26, 2015.
Tesco representatives confirmed to Business Insider that Linnane was staying on despite a Sky News report that the head of buying for impulse purchases, would leave the company.
Tesco continues to be investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. Tesco is being probed for overstating its profits by £250 million in September.
The company tells us that Linnane returned to Tesco two weeks ago.
His representatives said he "has been in the office every day" since then. They added that Tesco fully reinstated Linnane, who is "unquestionably one of the top performers in one of the world's top companies. He has led higher like for like growth than any other food category in Tesco, removed over 3 billion calories from the retailer's soft drinks range and has won the Q award Gold medal for the Finest range."
"Tesco recently welcomed him back to the team in an internal memo circulated to every employee (but not to the media)," said a spokesperson.
A group of Tesco senior management members were suspended after the retailer acknowledged its profits were inflated. Legendary investor Warren Buffett dedicated a passage in his recent annual letter to investors about how much he hated Tesco. He likened investing in the stock to living with an infestation of cockroaches.
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In January, Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded Tesco's credit rating to junk. The scandal knocked billions of pounds off Tesco's market value, and the stock is at a 12-year low. Tesco CEO Philip Clarke left the group and was replaced by Dave Lewis of Unilever.
The head of Tesco's convenience division, Sean McCurley, was fired, even though he had returned from suspension only at the beginning of February.
Earlier this month Sky reported that John Scouler, food commercial director, was leaving Tesco to join TalkTalk, while Kevin Grace, Tesco's group commercial director, and Carl Rogberg, the UK finance director, will also leave the beleaguered retailer.
Sky added that Matt Simister, Dan Jago, and Chris Robinson would remain as Tesco executives despite being suspended in the fourth quarter last year.
Here is a Tesco spokesperson's full statement on Linanne's position:
Mr. Linnane has not been sacked nor was he ever alleged to have been by any sources. Indeed, he returned to Tesco two weeks ago and has been in the office every day, including today; he should even be at his desk now. The Sky News article that yours is based on doesn't even allege that Mr. Linnane is going to be sacked. In fact, Tesco fully reinstated Mr. Linnane, who is unquestionably one of the top performers in one of the world's top companies. He has led higher like for like growth than any other food category in Tesco, removed over 3 billion calories from the retailer's soft drinks range and has won the Q award Gold medal for the Finest range. His professionalism is of the highest standard. Tesco recently welcomed him back to the team in an internal memo circulated to every employee (but not to the media), which I can verify. The company's policy is not to talk to the media about individuals.
*This story was updated on March 19, 2015, to reflect the fact that Linanne was fully reinstated by Tesco, and that report by Sky turned out to be wrong.
