- In 2016, German industrial titan Bayer acquired US chemical giant Monsanto for $63 billion.
- Bayer sought revenue diversification as its major cardiovascular and eye-care drugs near patent expiration.
- CEO Werner Baumann was criticized for ignoring research showing that the glyphosate found in Monsanto’s Roundup weed-killer causes cancer.
- US courts recently awarded a California groundskeeper $287M (reduced to $79M) and a couple $2B (reduced to $87M) after getting non-Hodgkin lymphoma from using Roundup.
- Bayer will be lucky to settle pending lawsuits for $10 billion.
