How Sanofi Boss Saw Story End in 60 Hours in Board Tussle

On the morning of Oct. 27, Sanofi Chief Executive Officer Chris Viehbacher took time out to attend the funeral of his friend Christophe de Margerie, the 63-year-old chief of Total SA, who had died in a plane crash a few days earlier. While Viehbacher was at the service in the neo-classical Saint Sulpice church in Paris, across the River Seine Sanofi’s board was preparing to bury his career at the company.

Sanofi’s directors met over lunch that day in the company’s Belle Epoque headquarters in the rue la Boetie. Viehbacher wasn’t invited. Dominating the discussion: media reports that Chairman Serge Weinberg wanted to fire Viehbacher, who had butted heads with the board over his leadership style and the way he executed the drugmaker’s strategy.