French drugmaker Sanofi sacked Chris Viehbacher, its chief executive, after the chairman of the French drugs company refused to back him in a boardroom confrontation because of his uncommunicative management style.
France’s second-biggest public company said its board met at 8am on Wednesday and decided unanimously to remove Viehbacher, whose hardline management style and plans to lay off thousands of staff shocked France.
Shares in Sanofi, one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical groups, dropped more than 4%, following their biggest fall for 17 years on Tuesday of 10.6%, after Sanofi warned that sales from its key diabetes portfolio would probably fail to grow next year. Uncertainty over Viehbacher’s future after he fell out with Serge Weinberg, the company’s chairman, also unnerved investors.
On Monday, French newspaper Les Echos reported that Viehbacher wrote to the board in early September complaining that Weinberg was trying to replace him.
Weinberg said: “Chris’s management style was not adequate … and the execution focus was not sufficient.” There was no disagreement about strategy, he insisted.
German-Canadian Viehbacher, who was Sanofi’s first non-French chief executive, made the company more international in outlook since he took over in 2008 and oversaw the acquisition of US biotech Genzyme in 2011. But he antagonised trade unions and some members of the government with his uncompromising manner.
Until a new chief executive is found, Weinberg will act as chairman and chief executive. He said the company was looking for a “pharma professional whatever the nationality” and mainly considering outside candidates.
He indicated the board had become increasingly frustrated with Viehbacher’s dictatorial style and failure to inform them about his decisions.
One such incident involved a review of an $8bn (£5bn) portfolio of off-patent drugs, mostly made in France, affecting six sites with 2,600 staff. Weinberg said the board did not know about the planned sale until it leaked to the press in June (it has since been ditched). A source told Reuters that Viehbacher’s review was tactless and hurtful when France was afflicted by high unemployment and concerns over the erosion of its industrial base.
Viehbacher told Reuters on Tuesday that, when he asked Weinberg about his future, Sanofi’s chairman said simply it was “not on the agenda”.
He said: “My job is to run the company and I think I’ve done a good job with that for six years, that’s what I’m focused on. After that it’s up to the board … but there’s a difference between board members and the board.”
Sanofi said: “The board of directors thanks Christopher A Viehbacher for all the work done during the last six years, which has enabled the group to move through a sensitive and important transition phase. The board confirms its commitment to continuing the strategy and the international expansion of the group.”
