In this article PFE HIMS Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions. Happy Tuesday! Pfizer 's troubles may finally be coming to a head.
Former executives of the pharmaceutical giant are backing a push by activist investor Starboard Value to turn around the struggling company, according to recent reports. Starboard has a roughly $1 billion stake in the drugmaker and approached former Pfizer CEO Ian Read and ex-CFO Frank D'Amelio, both of whom expressed interest in supporting the activist investor's efforts to shake up the company, CNBC previously reported . As of late Tuesday, Pfizer has a market cap of roughly $165 billion.
Read and D'Amelio relayed proposals from Starboard to several members of the company's board on Sunday, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the conversations. Still, the details of the turnaround plan are scant. Read was Pfizer's CEO from 2010 through 2018, while D'Amelio was Pfizer's chief financial officer from 2007 to 2021.
Here's why it matters: Read and D'Amelio's reported involvement is a rare instance of former executives engaging in what could be an activist fight for the future of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Investors have been clamoring for change at Pfizer.