Activist investor Starboard Value has acquired a $1 billion stake in Pfizer, aiming to lead a turnaround for the pharmaceutical company. Starboard has reportedly approached former Pfizer executives Ian Read and Frank D’Amelio to assist. The activist fund criticizes current CEO Albert Bourla's leadership, pointing to a shift from Pfizer's historically disciplined cost structure and focus on novel drugs. Although Pfizer's revenue surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, its stock price has fallen about 30% since 2019, partly due to expensive acquisitions like the $5 billion Global Blood Therapeutics deal. Despite cost-cutting efforts, over $100 billion in shareholder value has been lost since the pandemic's decline.
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00:00It's Benzinga, and here's what's on the block.
00:03Activist investor Starboard Value has acquired a $1 billion stake in Pfizer, aiming to lead
00:08a turnaround for the pharmaceutical company.
00:11Starboard has reportedly approached former Pfizer executives Ian Reid and Frank D'Amelio
00:15to assist.
00:17The activist fund criticizes current CEO Albert Bourla's leadership, pointing to a shift
00:21from Pfizer's historically disciplined cost structure and focus on novel drugs.
00:26Although Pfizer's revenue surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, its stock price has fallen
00:31about 30% since 2019, partly due to expensive acquisitions like the $5 billion Global Blood
00:37Therapeutics deal.
00:38Despite cost-cutting efforts, over $100 billion in shareholder value has been lost since the
00:43pandemic's decline.
00:45For all things money, visit Benzinga.com.