Timeline of Richard Schulze's effort to acquire Best Buy

March 2012: Best Buy announces plans to close 50 superstores and lay off several hundred employees.
April: S&P puts Best Buy's corporate credit rating on watch, in line for possible downgrade to "junk" status.
April 10: Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn abruptly resigns. The company acknowledges it has initiated an investigation of Dunn; Best Buy director G. "Mike" Mikan is named interim CEO.
May 16: Best Buy board releases results of investigation, says board chairman and company founder, Richard Schulze, failed to alert full board to allegations against Dunn.
June 7: Schulze resigns early from board of directors to explore his options; board member Hatim Tyabji is named chairman.
July 31: Star Tribune confirms that Schulze has recruited former Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson and former President and COO Allen Lenzmeier to join his takeover team.
Aug. 6: Schulze submits a preliminary takeover proposal to Best Buy's board. He suggests an offer of $24 to $26 a share.
Aug. 20: Best Buy announces it has hired Hubert Joly from Carlson as CEO.
Oct. 10: Joly agrees to let Schulze interview Best Buy executives.
Nov. 21: Joly and Schulze's team meet to share their points of view about the company in a substantial way.
Dec. 14: Best Buy and Schulze agree to push back a Dec. 16 deadline for Schulze to make an offer to buy the company, leading some analysts to speculate that Best Buy is more willing to make a deal.
Dec. 31: Best Buy Co. announces that directors Mikan and Matthew Paull are stepping down from their leadership roles with the company.
Jan. 11, 2013: Sales at Best Buy stores open for at least a year in December were flat compared with the same month in 2011. The performance is viewed as a victory for Best Buy, considering the fierce competition from Wal-Mart and Amazon over the holidays.
Friday: Best Buy stock closes at $17.02, up 40 percent since Dec. 12 ($12.20).