Oprah loses $39M from Weight Watchers miss, will increase her role
Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees on the company's collaboration with Oprah Winfrey, the impact of tax cuts and where the growth is for the company.
While WW International (formerly known as Weight Watchers) and one of its key shareholders — Oprah Winfrey — are still reeling after losing more than 30 percent of its value late Tuesday after the diet company reported weak results, Winfrey’s team tells FOX Business she’s still committed, despite losing more than $39 million in one day, according to Bloomberg.
A spokesperson for the former talk show host says, “Ms. Winfrey remains an investor, active member of the WW Board of Directors, and an engaged strategic partner,” adding that the former talk show host will play a “central role in the spring marketing campaign” for the brand in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTW | WILLIS TOWERS WATSON PLC | 307.59 | -5.11 | -1.63% |
As previously reported by FOX Business, rumors were swirling that Winfrey was slowy distancing herself from the brand.
Last March, according to a filing, Winfrey offloaded more than a million shares of her WW stock -- worth an estimated $110 million — 361,000 shares of which went to her charitable foundation. However, she still owns more than 5.4 million shares of the company, which caused her to lose more than $39 million on Tuesday after the stock plummeted.
In 2015, Winfrey made big news when she bought a 9.89 percent stake in Weight Watchers, sending the company’s shares skyrocketing.
Its price climbed from $6.79 per share in 2015 to more than $100 this past summer. However, as of Wednesday, shares had fallen to about a fifth of that level.
Winfrey’s team also says she is working in partnership with WW on an “initiative to bring together communities through a series of digital and live events and experiences to accelerate WW’s impact and reach new and diverse audiences.”
WW says it will announce those details in the coming months with the official kickoff expected to run in early 2020.
WW customers has fallen to 3.2 million in the fourth quarter from 4.5 million in the second quarter.
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Last September, the once-weight-loss-focused brand announced it was changing its name to WW International and broadening its focus to an overall health brand.