Rough starts don’t get much rougher than this: Teva CEO $2.8bn down
Tel Aviv — About 48 hours into his new job as CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Kare Schultz is already $2.8bn in the hole. Shareholders shaved that much off the company’s market value after the world’s largest maker of copycat drugs failed to dispel worries that the worst may not be over. Schultz tried. The Danish pharma veteran told investors on Thursday that it was an "absolute priority" to bolster profits and cash flow. "Kare faces a much more daunting challenge than I had," said Jeremy Levin, the South African who ran Teva briefly until he fell out of favour with the board in October 2013 over how to restructure what was then Israel’s crown jewel. Teva’s woes snowballed following his exit, prompting the drug maker to once again go in search of an outsider. "His success in bringing the company to its rightful position depends critically on complete support from the board," Levin said. Once among the world’s 20 biggest drug makers, Teva has been in a rapid decline. On Thursd...
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