"It wasn't only real estate that Lampert signed over to himself. In 2014, Sears sold Land's End, a clothing brand, to a consortium that was two-thirds controlled by ESL. Today, the brand has a rough market value of $314 million. In 2016, Sears sold Craftsman brand tools to Black & Decker for $900 million. The profits were used to pay off debt, including to Lampert. In 2017, Die Hard batteries were put up for sale. And this year, Lampert has made a $400 million bid for Kenmore appliances, the crown jewel of what remains at Sears, along with an $80 million bid for Sears Home Improvement stores.

So the leadership of the Sears empire—Lampert—is gradually selling off bits and pieces of it, mostly to Lampert. The cash generated from those deals in large part serviced Sears's debt, the payments on which also went to Lampert. And now, having put Sears into bankruptcy, the top creditor—Lampert—stands to gain from the final fire sale."

https://prospect.org/economy/sears-gutted-ceo/