Oprah Winfrey exits WeightWatchers board, shares plummet more than 25% - Global News | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Business

Oprah Winfrey exits WeightWatchers board, shares plummet more than 25% – Global News

Published

 on


Oprah Winfrey announced Wednesday that she will leave her role on the WeightWatchers board of directors, only two months after the talk show host publicly revealed she was taking a weight-loss medication.

Winfrey, who has for the last nine years been widely considered the face of WeightWatchers, joined the company’s board of directors in 2015. A press release from WeightWatchers said Winfrey, 70, decided not to stand for re-election.

The announcement of Winfrey’s departure sent WeightWatchers shares plummeting. During premarket trading on Thursday, shares in the weight-loss company plunged more than 25 per cent.

Winfrey pledged to donate her WeightWatchers stock to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. The talk-show mogul owns a 10 per cent stake in the company.

“I look forward to continuing to advise and collaborate with WeightWatchers and CEO Sima Sistani in elevating the conversation around recognizing obesity as a chronic condition, working to reduce stigma, and advocating for health equity,” Winfrey said in a statement.

“Weight Health is a critically important topic and one that needs to be addressed at a broader scale. I plan to participate in a number of public forums and events where I will be a vocal advocate in advancing this conversation.”

The WeightWatchers board of directors said it is “supportive” of Winfrey’s decision to donate her stock in the company. The board wrote that Winfrey’s aim in donating her shares to NMAAHC is to “highlight the contributions of African Americans and to eliminate any perceived conflict of interest around her taking weight loss medications.”


Breaking news from Canada and around the world
sent to your email, as it happens.

In December 2023, Winfrey told People magazine she was using an unnamed weight-loss drug as a “maintenance tool” for her fluctuating weight. The disclosure came after Winfrey’s social media followers speculated that the star may be taking Ozempic or another similar medication.

Winfrey told People she made the decision to take a medication that induces weight loss after being “blamed and shamed” for her weight across her 25-year career.

“I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control,” she said. “Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it’s about the brain.”

Winfrey said she “released my own shame” and reached out to her doctor to inquire about medication options.

More on Entertainment

“I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she said. “The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”

Alongside her medication, Winfrey said she still uses the WeightWatchers point-counting methodology and drinks a gallon of water every day.

Thilo Semmelbauer, chairman of the WeightWatchers board, said Winfrey has been an “inspiring presence and passionate advocate” within the organization. He thanked Winfrey for her “energy, dedication, and for continuing to play a role as collaborator” with the brand.

Winfrey will donate her stock during the company’s upcoming trading window in March.

WeightWatchers’ latest financial report on Wednesday showed a total loss of US$88.1 million in the company’s fourth quarter of 2023. WeightWatchers’ gross profit for the same quarter came in at US$124.9 million.

Revenue for the full 2023 fiscal year reached US$889.6 million, almost 15 per cent less than the year prior, the company reported.

Last year, WeightWatchers dipped its toe in the weight-loss drug game and purchased Sequence, a telehealth provider that offers users access to drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity, including Ozempic.

Due to popular demand, the manufacturers of several diabetes drugs, including Ozempic, have experienced shortages that have continued into 2024.



1:58
Ozempic shortage impact on Canadian patients with Type 2 diabetes


&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Adblock test (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Netflix’s subscriber growth slows as gains from password-sharing crackdown subside

Published

 on

 

Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service’s crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.

The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year. Even so, the company’s revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.

Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers — far more than any other streaming service.

The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company’s revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.

The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix’s stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company’s shares so far this year.

The past quarter’s subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch its popular service without paying for it.

The crackdown, triggered by a rare loss of subscribers coming out of the pandemic in 2022, helped Netflix add 57 million subscribers from June 2022 through this June — an average of more than 7 million per quarter, while many of its industry rivals have been struggling as households curbed their discretionary spending.

Netflix’s gains also were propelled by a low-priced version of its service that included commercials for the first time in its history. The company still is only getting a small fraction of its revenue from the 2-year-old advertising push, but Netflix is intensifying its focus on that segment of its business to help boost its profits.

In a letter to shareholder, Netflix reiterated previous cautionary notes about its expansion into advertising, though the low-priced option including commercials has become its fastest growing segment.

“We have much more work to do improving our offering for advertisers, which will be a priority over the next few years,” Netflix management wrote in the letter.

As part of its evolution, Netflix has been increasingly supplementing its lineup of scripted TV series and movies with live programming, such as a Labor Day spectacle featuring renowned glutton Joey Chestnut setting a world record for gorging on hot dogs in a showdown with his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi.

Netflix will be trying to attract more viewer during the current quarter with a Nov. 15 fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned boxer, and two National Football League games on Christmas Day.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

All Magic Spells (TM) : Top Converting Magic Spell eCommerce Store

Published

 on

Product Name: All Magic Spells (TM) : Top Converting Magic Spell eCommerce Store

Click here to get All Magic Spells (TM) : Top Converting Magic Spell eCommerce Store at discounted price while it’s still available…

All orders are protected by SSL encryption – the highest industry standard for online security from trusted vendors.

All Magic Spells (TM) : Top Converting Magic Spell eCommerce Store is backed with a 60 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee. If within the first 60 days of receipt you are not satisfied with Wake Up Lean™, you can request a refund by sending an email to the address given inside the product and we will immediately refund your entire purchase price, with no questions asked.

(more…)

Continue Reading

Business

CPC Practice Exam

Published

 on

Product Name: CPC Practice Exam

Click here to get CPC Practice Exam at discounted price while it’s still available…

All orders are protected by SSL encryption – the highest industry standard for online security from trusted vendors.

CPC Practice Exam is backed with a 60 Day No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee. If within the first 60 days of receipt you are not satisfied with Wake Up Lean™, you can request a refund by sending an email to the address given inside the product and we will immediately refund your entire purchase price, with no questions asked.

(more…)

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version