A leadership shake-up at the Hershey Company likely reflects conflicts within the trust company that serves as controlling shareholder, Dean Roger Dennis said in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) on Oct. 15.

The CEO of Hershey Co. announced his departure, becoming the third leader within a decade to leave the chocolatier’s top job.

The article cited tensions between the CEO and members of the Hershey Trust Co., the controlling shareholder, over whether or not to sell the company.

“A CEO’s ability to be a strategic leader of the entity has to be difficult in this context,” Dennis said.

The founding dean of the law school, Dennis is an expert on securities law.