Bayer, Werner Baumann
Werner Baumann is still CEO of Bayer, but his position was called into question after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting saw 55% of shareholders vote against ratifying the actions of the board of management.
The vote is widely regarded as a protest against the considerable drop in the share price of Bayer following the closure of the German company’s deal to acquire Monsanto.
Doubts have spread due to the loss of a court case wherein an individual suggested that the purchased company’s product, Roundup (glyphosate), caused his cancer – a US jury found in favour of the individual.
With this case, Bayer is facing the prospect of a huge number of court cases, estimated to be approximately 11,200, and the potential for a number of expensive settlements.
The shareholder rebellion against Baumann and the company’s board is not a legally binding vote, which means the board, and Baumann in particular, will not be forced to act.
However, Werner Wenning, chairman of the supervisory board at Bayer, said, “The outcome of the vote does nonetheless show that the annual stockholders’ meeting wanted to send a clear signal to the board of management that Bayer should bring out the company’s strengths to a greater extent in the future.”
The situation is highly unusual, with such votes commonly passed with large majorities and even the supervisory board, which is responsible for monitoring the action of board management in German corporate structure, only passed its own vote by 66%.