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☆ Pfizer CEO says he welcomes good ideas as Starboard ups pressure on company
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-29 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In a Tuesday interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla struck a positive tone about activist investor Starboard Value, saying he agreed with some of its criticisms, but maintained that the company is headed in a good direction. But if Starboard, and anybody else for that matter, have good ideas, I will certainly discuss them and entertain." The pharmaceutical giant is under pressure from Starboard, which reportedly has a $1 billion stake in the company. But he praised Starboard's CEO Jeff Smith, saying he seemed "very smart" and "very pragmatic" at a recent meeting. Bourla also rebuked claims that his company was involved in dissuading past executives — former CEO Ian Read and former CFO Frank D'Amelio — from joining Starboard's efforts.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Albert Bourla, Bourla, Jeff Smith, Ian Read, Frank D'Amelio — Organizations: Pfizer

Ian Read, chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer Inc., gestures as he speaks during a panel session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017. Activist Starboard Value accused Pfizer of threatening litigation against the company's former CEO and CFO in order to get them to break ranks with the investor's nascent turnaround campaign at the pharmaceutical giant. Pfizer shares slipped overnight as news of the two executive's breakaway emerged, and opened down roughly 2.5% in Thursday morning trading. Starboard's Smith said that when the activist approached the two executives, both expressed "concerns" about Pfizer's direction under Bourla and offered to help Starboard in its turnaround campaign. Starboard's Smith and Bourla are slated to meet in person next week, Smith said, confirming earlier reports.

Persons: Ian Read, Pfizer, Jeff Smith, Frank D'Amelio's, Smith, Albert Bourla, Starboard's Smith Organizations: Pfizer Inc, Economic, Pfizer Locations: Davos, Switzerland

☆ Former Pfizer CEO, finance chief step back from Starboard's activist campaign
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-10 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Pfizer CEO Ian Read and ex-CFO Frank D'Amelio said Wednesday evening that they would step away from Starboard Value's campaign at the struggling pharmaceutical giant, just days after news of the activist's stake broke. Read and D'Amelio said they were "fully supportive" of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in a joint statement made via an investment bank and confirmed to be authentic. The duo had been in contact with a number of directors shortly before news of Starboard's stake broke Sunday evening, according to people familiar with the matter. For executives to join, and then walk away from an activist's campaign is highly unusual. It was also not immediately clear what impact, if any, the breakaway would have on Starboard's campaign.

Persons: Ian Read, Donald Trump, Frank D'Amelio, Read, D'Amelio, Albert Bourla, Jeff Smith, Bourla Organizations: Pfizer, White, Washington , D.C, Guggenheim Securities, dealmaking, CNBC, Autodesk, Wall Street, Corp Locations: Washington ,

☆ CNBC Daily Open: A dovish Fed is driving markets. Keep an eye out for roadblocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-10 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Close to record close for NvidiaNvidia shares have rallied 25% in the last month and are currently trading at $132.11. Former Tata Sons chairman passes awayRatan Tata, the former chairman of the Indian conglomerate Tata Sons, passed away on Wednesday, aged 86. As chairman, Tata was instrumental in spearheading over 60 global acquisitions, helping to grow the group's revenue past $100 billion during his tenure.

Persons: Ian Read, Frank D'Amelio, D'Amelio, Ratan Tata, Tata Organizations: CNBC, Dow Jones, Technology, Nasdaq, Nvidia Nvidia, Nvidia, Microsoft, Mizuho, Pfizer, Guggenheim Securities, Former Tata, Tata Sons, IA Locations: Asia, Pacific, Hong Kong, OpenAI

☆ Activist Starboard Value has $1 billion Pfizer stake, taps former executives for help, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Activist investor Starboard Value has a roughly $1 billion stake in pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and is seeking to mount a turnaround at the struggling company, according to people familiar with the matter. Starboard believes that Pfizer's current leadership, under CEO Albert Bourla, has stepped away from historically disciplined cost structure and investment in novel drugs. One particularly concerning example to Starboard was Pfizer's acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics. Pfizer pulled a drug for sickle cell disease it got just two years ago via the roughly $5 billion acquisition. Still, more than $100 billion in shareholder value has evaporated since the Covid-19 pandemic faded largely into the rearview mirror.

Persons: Ian Read, Frank D'Amelio, Albert Bourla, Oxbryta, Read, Jeff Smith, Angelica Peebles Organizations: Pfizer, Blood Therapeutics, Autodesk, Street

☆ Meet Jeff Smith, the hedge-fund investor taking on Pfizer
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Starboard Value has taken a $1 billion stake in drugmaker Pfizer. The hedge fund, headed by Jeff Smith, has become one of the most feared activist investors. AdvertisementPharmaceuticals giant Pfizer got a wake up call Sunday evening when one of Wall Street's most feared activist investors revealed a stake in the company. AdvertisementPfizer, with a market cap north of $160 billion, is among the largest companies Starboard's Smith has ever targeted. With less than a 10% stake Smith replaced the entire 12-person board and assumed the role of chairman.

Persons: Jeff Smith, —, Smith, Starboard's Smith, Ian Read, Frank D'Amelio, Ken Squire, Paul Singer, Elliott, Carl Icahn, Dan Loeb, Peter Feld, Olive Garden's, Marc Benioff, Brontë Wittpenn, Brontë, Squire, they're, Albert Bourla, Bourla, wagered Organizations: Pfizer, Service, Pharmaceuticals, 13D, Investor, Lazard, Elliott Management, Icahn Enterprises, Cowen Group, AOL, Darden Restaurants, Olive Garden, Longhorn, Darden, Wall, San Francisco, Getty, Smithfield Foods, Bristol, Myers Squibb, Celgene, Autodesk, Starbucks Locations: Olive Garden, Fortune, America, Olive, Washington

☆ Israel and Iran: All-out war, or measured retaliation?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Imageswatch nowBut a full-blown conventional war would be devastating to both sides and highly destabilizing for the Middle East. Are these tit-for-tat blows between Israel and Iran clear evidence of all-out war, or carefully calibrated retaliation strikes? "With Israel's apparent strikes on Iran today, retaliating for Iran's attack on Israel last Sunday, we now have a direct nation-on-nation hot war," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection" Friday. 'Ball is back in Iran's court'Not everyone agrees that the line into wider war has been crossed, however. Within hours of the Israeli strikes, risk assets were already on their way back down, with international oil benchmark Brent crude turning lower for the session after a brief spike.

Persons: Atta Kenare, Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Ebrahim Raisi, Clay Seigle, CNBC's, Ehud Olmert, CNBC's Dan Murphy, Olmert, Ian Bremmer, Michael Singh, Israel, Rob Casey, Casey Organizations: AFP, Getty, Washington, Rapidan Energy Group, Israeli, Military, Israel, Eurasia Group, National Security Council, Wall Street, Signum Global Advisors, Anadolu, International Atomic Energy Agency, Brent Locations: Palestine Square, Tehran, Israel, Iran, U.S, Damascus, Gulf of Oman, Hormuz, Anadolu

☆ The author of 'Eat, Pray, Love’ set her latest novel in Russia. Now she’s asking her own publisher to withdraw it after Ukrainian readers expressed their disappointment.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Lauren Steussy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elizabeth Gilbert set her latest novel, "The Snow Forest" in Soviet Russia. "It is not the time for this book to be published," she said in a Twitter video Monday. Elizabeth Gilbert told her fans Monday on Twitter that now "is not the time" for her book, "The Snow Forest," to be published. Gilbert's best-selling memoir "Eat, Pray, Love," about finding love and wanderlust in midlife, was made into a 2010 blockbuster starring Julia Roberts. Readers also took to social media to reach Gilbert and urge her to reconsider publishing the book.

Persons: Elizabeth Gilbert, —, Gilbert's, Julia Roberts, Gilbert, Readers, hasn't Organizations: Twitter, Penguin Random, Riverhead Books, Riverhead, New York Times, PEN America, Wall Street Locations: Soviet Russia, Russia, Ukraine, midlife, Siberia, Soviet, russia

Dave Chappelle, hosting NBC's "Saturday Night Live" for the third time, kicked off the show with a roughly 15-minute monologue that tackled hip-hop artist Ye's antisemitic comments, the midterm elections and former President Donald Trump's political appeal. Chappelle mocked Ye as well as Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who posted a link to an antisemitic movie on Twitter. "I've been to Hollywood, and this is just what I saw: It's a lot of Jews, like a lot," Chappelle said to laughter. In recent years, Chappelle has attracted intense scrutiny for his public comments about transgender people, particularly after Netflix released his most recent stand-up special, "The Closer." Four days later, Chappelle was physically attacked onstage at the Hollywood Bowl, charged and tackled by a man carrying a replica gun.

☆ Embattled CEO Werner Baumann enters his final chapter at Bayer, aiming to turn the German pharma giant into a cancer powerhouse
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

With a successor search underway, Werner Baumann is entering his last chapter as Bayer's CEO. Baumann told Insider he's more excited today about Bayer's future than several years ago. The exec wants Bayer to become a top 10 cancer player by 2030, and recently opened a Cambridge lab. CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Within his first month as CEO of the German giant Bayer, Werner Baumann took a big, legacy-making swing. Baumann says Bayer's future is in oncologyWerner Baumann, right, CEO of Bayer, and Werner Wenning, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer.

☆ The O.J. Simpson Murder Trial, as Covered by The Times
▼ + stars: | 2016-02-01 | by ( Daniel Victor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

June 17, 1994: Robert Kardashian Reads Simpson’s LetterAt a news conference, Robert Kardashian, a friend of Mr. Simpson’s, read a letter that he said Mr. Simpson had written just before he was to turn himself in. First, everyone understand I have nothing to do with Nicole’s murder. …I think of my life and feel I’ve done most of the right things so why do I end up like this? Please, if I’ve done anything worthwhile in my life, let my kids live in peace from you, the press. I treated people the way I wanted to be treated.

Persons: Robert Kardashian, Mr, Simpson’s, Simpson, I’ve, I’m, Goldman

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