4 ms·

Bayer doesn’t seem to have won the lotto buying Monsanto. I wonder if the CEO will get a golden parachute for this one?

by godzillabrennus 7y ago

Alex3917 7y ago
All of the liability was well known before the purchase though.
- jlmorton 7y ago
  I'm not sure how well-known it was. Bayer and Mansanto agreed to merge in 2016. The first large jury award in a case claiming RoundUp caused cancer was in August 2018. It's worth noting that RoundUp has been sold and marketed for close to fifty years at this point. It is extremely well understood, extremely well studied, extremely common, but we're only recently seeing a number of successful lawsuits claiming glyphosate is a carcinogen.
  - nickpsecurity 7y ago
    The public at large had a chance to know they're knee deep in decisions that might cause lawsuits. So, that's probably well-known. Two examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw If anything, I'm only surprised something hasn't happened sooner. And then a bunch more times given the size of their product portfolio.
- notimetorelax 7y ago
  Bayer claimed that they could not do full due diligence because Monsanto was an American company.
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    That's a very surprising claim. How does being an American company stop them from doing full due diligence? Bit if it's true, Bayer shouldn't have bought them.
    - ekianjo 7y ago
      I dont know the details about that but there a long history of bad blood between the US and Bayer so this may have played some part in it.
  - OrgNet 7y ago
    Doesn't everyone know that Monsanto had questionable ethics?
pergadad 7y ago
A very solid and respected company paid a gigantic amount for an ailing, future-less (Monsanto had closed most of its research), and clearly ethically struggling company with thousands of lawsuits against it. Worst corporate decision I've ever seen. I can't explain it other than that the CEO, Board, etc of Bayer have been bribed. There is no way they could have been that incompetent. The pending bankruptcy will be a gigantic loss for German industry and the big winners are the usual venture capitalists that drained Monsanto the years before, and got this huge payout.

Bayer doesn’t seem to have won the lotto buying Monsanto. I wonder if the CEO will get a golden parachute for this one?

Alex3917 7y ago

All of the liability was well known before the purchase though.

jlmorton 7y ago
I'm not sure how well-known it was. Bayer and Mansanto agreed to merge in 2016. The first large jury award in a case claiming RoundUp caused cancer was in August 2018. It's worth noting that RoundUp has been sold and marketed for close to fifty years at this point. It is extremely well understood, extremely well studied, extremely common, but we're only recently seeing a number of successful lawsuits claiming glyphosate is a carcinogen.
- nickpsecurity 7y ago
  The public at large had a chance to know they're knee deep in decisions that might cause lawsuits. So, that's probably well-known. Two examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw If anything, I'm only surprised something hasn't happened sooner. And then a bunch more times given the size of their product portfolio.
notimetorelax 7y ago
Bayer claimed that they could not do full due diligence because Monsanto was an American company.
- AnimalMuppet 7y ago
  That's a very surprising claim. How does being an American company stop them from doing full due diligence? Bit if it's true, Bayer shouldn't have bought them.
  - ekianjo 7y ago
    I dont know the details about that but there a long history of bad blood between the US and Bayer so this may have played some part in it.
- OrgNet 7y ago
  Doesn't everyone know that Monsanto had questionable ethics?

pergadad 7y ago

A very solid and respected company paid a gigantic amount for an ailing, future-less (Monsanto had closed most of its research), and clearly ethically struggling company with thousands of lawsuits against it. Worst corporate decision I've ever seen. I can't explain it other than that the CEO, Board, etc of Bayer have been bribed. There is no way they could have been that incompetent. The pending bankruptcy will be a gigantic loss for German industry and the big winners are the usual venture capitalists that drained Monsanto the years before, and got this huge payout.