Best Buy Co. Inc. founder Richard Schulze has been recruiting executives to help lead the retailer if his attempt to take the company private is successful, according to a senior Best Buy executive, Bloomberg reported.

“He is talking to people he trusts,” said J.D. Wilson, senior vice president of enterprise capabilities. “There is a small group he’d like to have with him in righting the ship. He is serious as a heart attack.”

Wilson, who said his position is being eliminated as part of Best Buy’s cutbacks, was approached by Schulze in June and said he would work for the company if a deal went through.

Schulze also has been seeking to recruit other executives, such as former Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson, said a person familiar with the matter. Anderson has told other former Best Buy executives he is interested in joining Schulze’s effort, the person told Bloomberg.

Schulze, 71, has been exploring taking the world’s largest electronics retailer private after stepping down as chairman last month, Bloomberg reported.

An internal probe found he failed to tell the board about allegations that then-CEO Brian Dunn was having an inappropriate relationship with a female employee. Schulze said when he resigned that he would consider all options, including selling his 20 percent stake in the Richfield, Minn.-based company.

Schulze and Bruce Hight, a spokesman for the company, declined to comment, Bloomberg said. Anderson could not be reached for comment, Bloomberg said.