Would rather be lucky than good
Diabetic Investor has long characterized the wacky world of diabetes as the gift that keeps on giving. Yes it seems that some days all we have to do is sit back and wait for one company or another to do something incredibly stupid. Having been around the wacky world for nearly 20 years it still astonishes us that we are never lacking for great material.
Although Diabetic Investor would never reveal where we come across some of our material, there are times it’s plain dumb luck. On more than one occasion we’ve received confidential emails that weren’t meant for our eyes. It’s not uncommon for a subscriber to violate the Diabetic Investor copyright and forward something we’ve written to a non-subscriber the only problem is this copyright violator actually copies Diabetic Investor. Other times we’ll get emails that companies would not like us to see and like the copyright violator somehow or another we get copied in.
Well it just so happens that recently we were the beneficiary of good fortune as once again someone accidentally copied us into an email chain which we know they did not want us to see. Yes thanks to our wine drinking friends in France, who it seems had just a little too much wine, copied us into a real juicy email.
Now as everyone knows tomorrow is supposed to be the day when Olivier Brandicourt officially takes commend as CEO. Well if we had any advice for Brandicourt it would be don’t expect a warm reception and it would be a good idea to rent rather than buy. It seems that existing management isn’t thrilled that our good buddy Serge and his fellow board members had to settle on Brandicourt as the replacement for Viehbacher. This discontent is not your ordinary water cooler gossip and very real. So much so that some department heads are actually plotting a coup.
According to the series of emails we’ve received (yes we have received not one but several emails- which makes Diabetic Investor wonder whether we’ve been copied in intentionally or that no one has noticed) management is considering not telling Brandicourt the whole truth and nothing but the truth. That when asked for information management will out and out lie.
Not being sure if this was some sort of joke or a real plot Diabetic Investor reached out to Brandicourt for comment. Although we did not speak to Brandicourt a source close to him revealed that he’s not thrilled with the Serge and board, that even before we mentioned this behind the scenes plot he was considering … wait for it as this is a doozy … actually not taking the job. Yes it seems that Brandicourt has huddled with a team of high priced employment attorney’s to see what his options are. The situation is so serious that Brandicourt confidants have reached out to Bayer about the possibility of him going back to the company.
Now as everyone knows Diabetic Investor and Serge don’t have a cozy relationship. Yes it seems that Serge is a trifle sensitive and isn’t happy with way he’s been portrayed in Diabetic Investor. Yet given the serious nature of what’s going on we thought why not reach out and see if Serge would go on the record. If nothing else we thought if he wouldn’t comment we could arrange a time when he could pick up his Wacky Award. Not surprisingly Serge declined our request for an interview and through a spokesperson basically told Diabetic Investor to do something that is physically impossible for a man. Although it did sound so much better in French, as we have said before the French language is so damn sexy and even when you’re being told to F yourself it sounds good.
Not having any luck with Serge we decided what the heck we’ve got nothing to lose why not reach out to board members directly. While Serge may be Chairman of the Board these people do have a mind of their own and just might have something to say on this serious situation. As it turns out they have a lot to say just none of it for attribution. What we can say is that privately a few are not thrilled with the job Serge has done and more than a little upset that he beheaded Viehbacher without having a replacement already lined up to take over. Thanks to help from our good friend Chase who is fluent in French, Diabetic Investor learned the extent of their displeasure.
Searching for anyone who would go on the record we reached out to another good friend, Storm who has connections with several of Sanofi’s largest stakeholders. Unfortunately no such luck as these stakeholders didn’t want their names associated with what we can classify as very disparaging remarks. Yes it seems that Serge is not just good at opening his mouth and interesting his foot, but he’s also very adept at making these stakeholders unhappy. As one major stakeholder said on the condition his name not be used; “How the F would you feel watching as this idiot destroys the value of your shares.”
As we have noted in the past Sanofi has more than their share of issues. That Brandicourt may not be given the freedom to make the changes that are desperately needed. That it would be Serge and the board actually calling the shots, which based on recent events seems to be what’s happening. So just for grins and giggles we decided to email the person who originally copied us into this email chain. Honestly it was just killing us as we wanted to know if this was no accident and he actually wanted us to see them.
Obviously we will not reveal his identity but we actually spoke and it was a very nice conversation. Afterwards we received an email from him thanking Diabetic Investor for bringing this to his attention as yes it seems this was not on purpose and actually an accident.
He concluded the email by stating; “Listen Dave you may not realize it but you have lots of fans here at Sanofi and many us truly enjoy reading your posts. Your good friend and secret admirer- Serge Weinberg”
Happy Aprils Fool day.
