If you believe that Billionaire Eddie Lampert is trying to turn around Sears he is a dismal failure. If you believe that he is starving the company, stashing assets, and quietly dismantling the company despite he repeated denials, then he is an investing genius. He has made a fortune chopping up the company right before our very eyes. He sold Orchard Supply Hardware, the outlet stores, Lands End, etc.
Sears never stood a chance against Target or Walmart. Lampert would have lost billions trying. Instead, it was all part of his devious plot. Non-investments in retail infrastructure were worth billions in gains and sidestepped losses.
Making money from your own company crashing and burning while feeding lies to the public... Sears was being killed off from within and the one who started it all is the one we least expected. All of this so that he could hide away money for himself.
Selling off parts of Sears is what he wants to do. It makes money for the shareholders. He already sold off half of Sears Canada. Selling off the other half would give shareholders tons of money. Lampert has talked about selling off the Sears Auto centers. Lampert was with Autozone and when he sold it off, he made tons of money.
Sears is a collection of assets to be chopped up, spun off, and monetized to the benefit of himself and shareholders. As a merchant Lampert is terrible, as an investor he is making tons of money for himself.