It was a somewhat ordinary day for David Pyott, the CEO of Allergan, back in April 2014. That is until his eyes glanced over at the TV screen in his office, where he learned that billionaire hedge fund manager and activist investor Bill Ackman was about to back the takeover of his company by way of a hostile takeover.
The acquirer was none other than the infamous and controversial pharmaceutical company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Valeant was a Wall Street darling and one of Canada’s largest companies. So why and how did this transaction lead to Valeant’s downfall only a year later?
Listen to Episode 53 of The Great Fail to hear the story. Special thanks to Joe Nocera for his contributions to this segment.
Episode Sources
The rise and fall of Valeant Pharmaceuticals
What Valeant’s fall from grace can teach the drug industry
THE VALEANT MELTDOWN AND WALL STREET’S MAJOR DRUG PROBLEM
Valeant CEO didn’t tell investors real story about sales growth
Explaining Valeant: The Main Theories
The Demise of Valeant Pharmaceuticals: A Case Study in Rotten Culture and Business Ethics
Valeant Makes Hostile Bid For Allergan
Inside A Hostile Takeover: The Allergan-Valeant War
Special Guest
Joe Nocera
Business Columnist at Bloomberg
Joe Nocera is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. He is the host and writer of the Bloomberg-Wondery podcast “The Shrink Next Door.”