Novo Nordisk chairman, others to quit board following dispute with largest shareholder

[New Nordisk]
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Novo Nordisk Chairman Helge Lund, along with several other board members, will be leaving their positions following a disagreement with the company's largest shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

As a result an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders will be held on Nov. 14 to elect a new chair and board member replacements.

Along with Lund, Vice Chair Vice Chair Henrik Poulsen and board members Laurence Debroux, Andreas Fibig, Sylvie Grégoire, Christina Law and Martin Mackay will not take part in the election.

According to a Novo news release [https://www.novonordisk.com/news-and-media/news-and-ir-materials/news-details.html?id=916439], the dispute has to do with the future governance of the Danish pharma. "Following dialogue with the Novo Nordisk Foundation regarding the future composition of the Board of Directors, it has not been possible to reach a common understanding. The Board proposed a renewal focusing on addition of select, new competencies while also maintaining continuity, whereas the Board of the Foundation wanted a more extensive reconfiguration."

The Novo Nordisk Foundation said it will nominate its current chair and former Novo CEO Lars Rebien Sørensen to become company chair as well, though only for two to three years. He will have two main objectives: "The first is to support the new management of Novo Nordisk A/S in implementing its transformation plans and regaining the company’s growth momentum. The second objective is to identify and appoint a new chair who can successfully lead the company into the 2030s."

"We believe it is time to bring in new competencies and perspectives to the Board to support Mike Doustdar and his leadership team in executing on the company’s strategy," Sørensen said [https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/news/the-novo-nordisk-foundation-proposes-new-candidates-for-election-as-members-of-the-board-of-directors-of-novo-nordisk-a-s/].

For vice chair, the foundation is nominating Cees de Jong. Other board nominees are Britt Meelby Jensen, Mikael Dolsten, and Stephan Engels.

Doustdar has been CEO since August [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4473239-novo-nordisk-stock-drops-guidance-cut], replacing Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, who stepped down [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4449520-novo-nordisk-stock-slips-ceo-steps-down] in May amid lagging stock performance. He plans to lay off [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4504360-novo-nordisk-has-begun-u-s-layoffs] about 9,000 employees as part of a global restructuring.

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