Starboard Value activist investor takes $1 bln stake in Pfizer – WSJ By Investing.com

Investing.com– Activist investor Starboard Value takes a $1 billion stake Pfizer Inc (NYSE: ) also wants the drugmaker to make major changes to improve efficiency, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Starboard spoke with two former Pfizer executives – Ian Read and Frank D’Amelio – who also expressed interest in helping, the WSJ report said. Read was the former CEO of Pfizer, while D’Amelio is its CFO until 2021.

Pfizer has benefited greatly from demand for its vaccine during the COVID-19 outbreak. But demand has slowed over the past two years, and earnings and dividend performance have weakened after the company overestimated future pandemic-related demand.

The company has also been accused of a lack of discipline in its marketing during the pandemic, leaving rivals Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: ) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: ) behind in releasing popular weight-loss drugs.

Starboard recently acquired a stake in Starbucks (NASDAQ: It also worked in the technology sector.