New York
CNN
—
Oprah Winfrey is leaving the board of WeightWatchers, ending a nearly decade-long stint as a director of the beleaguered firm that has confronted sudden competitors from Ozempic.
Winfrey notified the corporate of her determination earlier this week, telling them she gained’t be standing for re-election at its annual shareholder assembly arising in Might. A cause wasn’t revealed, however a WeightWatchers regulatory assertion mentioned that her “determination was not the results of any disagreement” or “any matter regarding the corporate’s operations, insurance policies or practices.”
“Oprah is an inspiring presence and passionate advocate each for our members and for society at massive, in elevating the dialog round weight well being,” mentioned Sima Sistani, CEO of WeightWatchers, on a name with traders this week. “Whereas I and the remainder of our administrators will definitely miss her in our board conferences following the top of her present time period, she stays a powerful strategic voice and collaborator with WeightWatchers.”
Winfrey may also be giving freely her sizeable stake within the firm: She mentioned in a press release that she’s donating all of her inventory to Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition.
WeightWatchers shares (WW) plunged as a lot as 25% in premarket buying and selling Thursday and are down almost 70%. Winfrey’s exit is a 12 months sooner than anticipated, with the media mogul in 2019 signing an extension until 2025.
“I sit up for persevering with to advise and collaborate with WeightWatchers and CEO Sima Sistani in elevating the dialog round recognizing weight problems as a persistent situation, working to scale back stigma, and advocating for well being fairness,” Winfrey mentioned in a statement.
Winfrey joined the board in 2015 and purchased a ten% stake, instantly giving the beleaguered firm relevance as extra folks shifted to simpler diets reasonably than counting factors.
WeightWatchers has confronted extra competitors not too long ago from GLP-1 prescriptions medicine like Ozempic and Wegovy typically used for weight reduction. In response, it launched a new membership plan for folks on these medicine that provides members entry to medical doctors who can prescribe these medicines, in addition to each day diet plans, insurance coverage coordination and different weight reduction assist applications.
Final 12 months, WeightWatchers additionally made a $100 million-plus deal to purchase Sequence, a telehealth enterprise that gives digital prescriptions to sufferers for these weight reduction medicine the place applicable.
Winfrey told People Magazine in December that she has added a “weight-loss remedy to her routine” however didn’t specify which drug.
This story has been up to date to make clear how Winfrey is unloading her stake.