Oprah Winfrey can seemingly do it all — but not even her 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers International, Inc. (ticker: WTW) could sustain long-term gains for the fledgling diet company. Now, the mega celebrity is going to aid the company in choosing a new CEO, reports Reuters.
The company announced that leader James Chambers — who held the title for three years — would depart the company at the end of this month. Chambers and the board of directors came to this decision together; Chief Financial Officer Nicholas Hotchkin and directors Thilo Semmelbauer and Christopher Sobecki will take the reins of the company in the interim before a replacement joins the company. Winfrey is a member of the board of directors and will look for a replacement in addition to search committee members.
After WTW lost 73 percent of its value in 2015, Winfrey’s stake disclosure nearly a year ago sent shares booming by 105 percent. Investors thought Winfrey’s own weight loss story could give the brand a necessary bump.
However, as Reuters notes and is painstakingly prevalent across the food, beverage and diet industries, consumers’ tastes are changing. Diet programs may have been the “it” option of yesteryear, but now it’s all a matter of what’s “natural.” Look no further than grocery store shelves to see the shift in language, with emphasis in health apart from diet. It’s evident in everything from yogurt to Lean Cuisine.
Elsewhere, the diet and fitness realm itself has aged with current technologies. Fitbit‘s ( FIT) fitness trackers and calorie-counting mobile apps are taking a larger share of the spotlight, hindering Weight Watchers in the process, according to analysts. WTW stock has given back nearly all its gains earned after Winfrey’s purchase.
Several Twitter users used GIFs to express their thoughts on Oprah’s involvement in the CEO search.
In honor of Oprah helping find a new Weight Watchers CEO pic.twitter.com/k12tmHpasM
— Amanda Lasky (@AmandaWeindel)
Oprah will help pick the next Weight Watchers CEO https://t.co/WMC4VE0csO pic.twitter.com/Xp6lBuqIoH
— Nick Turner (@SFNick)
And as other Twitter users pointed out, Sept. 13 coincidentally marks the anniversary of Oprah’s famous 2004 free car giveaway air date.
It’s been 12 years since @Oprah gave everyone a car and the world this gif #slayyyyyy #queen pic.twitter.com/mFf075zQqh
— alison wunderland (@aliwunderland19)
#Timehop tells me it’s been 12 years since #Oprah made “YOU get a car!” a thing. #TimeFlies pic.twitter.com/dNnXwa6YoH
— Govi (@govified)
WTW stock is down about 58 percent on the year, and was down more than 7 percent at midday Tuesday.
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WTW Stock: Oprah Winfrey Will Help Weight Watchers International Inc. Find a New CEO originally appeared on usnews.com
