Pfizer’s former chair and CEO Ian Read and former finance chief Frank D’Amelio have pitched at least four of its directors, including CEO Albert Bourla, on activist investor Starboard Value’s plan for turning around the company, The Financial Times’ Oliver Barnes and Maria Heeter report. According to several people familiar with the matter, Read and D’Amelio spoke with at least four board members on Sunday, including lead independent director Shantanu Narayen and Suzanne Nora Johnson, the company’s longest serving director, before Starboard’s $1B stake in Pfizer became public. Bourla also received a call from his former colleagues, the people say. Pfizer’s board discussed Starboard’s stake at a meeting on Monday, said a person familiar with the matter.
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