, Columnist
Three Strikes at Valeant, Pearson's Out
He was a bad CEO in three very specific ways.
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Mike Pearson reportedly fought to return to Valeant as CEO after a serious illness, saying he was the right person to steer the ship, and the board finally agreed. That was clearly an error; Pearson immediately steered Valeant into a maelstrom.
Pearson is so closely identified with everything that has gone wrong with the pharmaceutical company -- including an astonishing series of accounting and public relations screwups -- that he became too toxic to keep. After disclosing Monday morning it would have restate a variety of financial results from 2014 and 2015, Valeant had little choice but to admit its mistake and let him go.