Eli Lilly Dumps CFO After Inappropriate Communication Allegations Arise
Eli Lilly is shuffling the executive deck on Tuesday after allegations about inappropriate communication arose against its chief financial officer.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY | LLY Price Prediction) is shuffling the executive deck on Tuesday after allegations about inappropriate communication arose against Chief Financial Officer Josh Smiley. Note that Smiley has resigned as senior vice president and CFO and will be leaving the company.
The pharmaceutical firm announced that Anat Ashkenazi would be appointed as senior vice president and CFO. Ashkenazi most recently served in the role of senior vice president, controller and CFO of Lilly Research Laboratories.
Management was recently made aware of allegations of an inappropriate personal relationship between Smiley and an employee. Eli Lilly immediately engaged external counsel to conduct a thorough, independent investigation. So far, this investigation has revealed consensual though inappropriate personal communications between Smiley and certain Eli Lilly employees and behavior that management concluded exhibited poor judgment by Smiley and not representative of core company values.
Eli Lilly was sure to mention that this inappropriate conduct was not related to financial controls, financial statements or any other business matters or judgments.
[nativounit]
Under the terms of his separation agreement, Smiley will be available to assist in the transition.
Excluding Tuesday’s move, Eli Lilly stock had outperformed the broad markets with a gain of about 22% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock was up closer to 41%.
Eli Lilly stock traded down about 1.6% to $202.45, in a 52-week range of $117.06 to $218.00. The consensus price target is $213.79.
[recirclink id=836909][wallst_email_signup]
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
