c'est la vie ...
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Biogen's Former CEO Tobin Sold Stake in Company After Leaving
Cambridge, Massachusetts, Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Jim Tobin sold his entire stake in Biogen Inc. after resigning as chief executive over problems working with the biotechnology company's chairman, James Vincent.
Tobin, 54, said he sold his 719,000 shares in the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company over the past month or so. At the stock's average price of 93 3/4 over the past 30 days, the sale would have given him about $67 million.
After spending the past few months skiing, Tobin said he's decided to retire and focus on activities he's long wanted to try -- like learning to fly an airplane. ''The day the money hit the bank, retirement seemed like a pretty good option,'' Tobin said in an interview.
Tobin decided to leave Biogen after he complained to the company's board of directors about problems working with his boss and told them he'd leave if Vincent didn't. The board picked Vincent, who had preceded Tobin as the company's CEO, and announced the departure a few days before Christmas.
Tobin said he didn't sell his stake in Biogen, maker of the multiple sclerosis treatment Avonex, because of any clouds on the horizon. ''I think Biogen's in great shape. Obviously things are going pretty well,'' Tobin said. ''I just don't think it's really appropriate for me to be a large shareholder in a company that I left.''
During Tobin's five years of leadership, Biogen's multiple sclerosis drug Avonex became a blockbuster whose strong sales helped its shares more than double last year as it reported record earnings.
Though he left the company a rich man, he had a chance to make a lot more money if he had stayed. When Tobin quit his post, he lost rights to yet-to-be-vested options on about 700,000 Biogen shares for $35 apiece. The stock rose 4 3/8 to 97 3/4 today, giving those options a value of about $44 million.
Tobin's resignation from Biogen wasn't the first time he has abruptly left a top post at a major medical company.
Five years ago, Tobin quit as president, chief operating officer and board member of Baxter International Inc., 21 years after joining the nation's largest maker of medical supplies.
At the time, Tobin said he was ''looking for a new challenge'' after starting a restructuring of the troubled company.
He said he also sold his Baxter shares after that departure. |
