Oprah has been a Weight Watchers shareholder and board member for nine years — now she’s getting out and the stock is tanking.
This week, Oprah Winfrey announced she was leaving the board of WW International Inc., ending a decade-long run as the face of the Weight Watchers brand. The stock market didn’t like the news, sending shares of the company down by 18%. The stock closed at $3.12 on the first trading day after the announcement.
Nevertheless, while the weight-loss-program company is currently struggling in the era of Ozempic and other diet pills, the partnership was still a lucrative one for Winfrey. In total, she made $221 million on her Weight Watchers deal, according to an analysis by Verity, an insider trading research and analytics firm.
Winfrey purchased 6.3 million newly issued WW shares using her own money at $6.79 a share — a $43.2 million investment — at the closing price for the stock before the announcement. The stock position instantly made Winfrey an owner of 14.79% of Weight Watchers, while diluting the ownership positions of other shareholders. But most were probably cheering along with Winfrey when the stock immediately more than doubled to close at $13.92.
But there were some costs around those stock sales. In addition to the $43.2 million Winfrey paid for her initial stake, she was awarded stock options by the company over the years. Once the initial payment and exercise costs of the options were stripped out, Winfrey netted $221 million from the stock sales, Verity data shows.
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