Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ian Read speaks as President Donald Trump (left) listens during an announcement on a new pharmaceutical glass packaging initiative in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 20, 2017.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Former Pfizer CEO Ian Read and former CFO Frank D'Amelio said Wednesday evening that they were withdrawing from Starboard Value's campaign at the troubled pharmaceutical giant, just days after news of the activist's involvement broke.
Read and D'Amelio said they “fully support” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in a joint statement issued through an investment bank and confirmed as authentic. The duo had been in contact with several directors shortly before news of Starboard's involvement broke Sunday evening, according to people familiar with the matter.
“We are confident that they will create value for shareholders over time,” the two former executives said of Pfizer’s current board and management. The company's shares are essentially flat for the year and are about 50% below their 2021 highs.
The statement was made by Guggenheim Securities, which has long advised Pfizer on the deal. A representative for the bank declined to comment beyond publication.
The about-face comes as Pfizer's board grapples with the activist's efforts and just days before Starboard's Jeff Smith was scheduled to meet with CEO Bourla, people familiar with the matter said. For executives to join and then leave an activist's campaign is highly unusual.
It also wasn't immediately clear what impact, if any, the spinoff would have on Starboard's campaign. A representative for the activist fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Starboard, one of the largest and most persistent activist funds, has built a roughly $1 billion stake in the pharmaceutical company, CNBC previously reported.
Jeff Smith, the executive member at Starboard, has previously campaigned at Autodesk And Salesforce in the last few months. While it typically focuses on the technology sector, it has also built holdings Starbucks and parent company of the Wall Street Journal News Corp this year.
Pfizer representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
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