ADM shareholder urges CEO to resign as felony investigation continues

By PJ Huffstutter

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A shareholder in agribusiness Archer-Daniels-Midland is pressuring the corporate’s CEO to resign for failing to obviously inform buyers of issues with its inside accounting practices that sparked a felony investigation first reported by Reuters.

In a LinkedIn submit titled “Investor Distress Has a Title: ADM,” Hartwig Fuchs stated ADM was the worst inventory in his portfolio this 12 months and blamed ADM CEO Juan Luciano.

Fuchs was chairman of the board of administrators of the German buying and selling firm Alfred C. Toepfer Worldwide when ADM had a majority stake within the firm. Fuchs left Toepfer in 2009 and Chicago-based ADM acquired it in 2014.

“A German proverb says: the fish at all times stinks from the pinnacle,” Fuchs wrote in his message dated Sunday.

ADM declined to touch upon Fuchs’ submit Monday. It was not instantly clear what number of ADM shares Fuchs owns.

ADM was compelled to amend its annual monetary stories in March and November after discovering that gross sales between its vitamin enterprise and different core items weren’t recorded appropriately. The corporate final month lowered its 2024 revenue outlook, citing political uncertainty, weak demand and “inside operational challenges.”

In latest months, federal prosecutors have expanded their investigations into whether or not ADM or its workers dedicated crimes, together with securities fraud and conspiracies, in line with subpoenas reviewed by Reuters and other people aware of the investigation.

Authorities investigations usually are not proof of wrongdoing and don’t essentially lead to prices. A spokesperson for the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Manhattan declined Monday to touch upon the investigation.

ADM’s inventory worth is down practically 30% from final 12 months, and ADM shareholders, together with Fuchs, are asking questions and pointing fingers at these accountable.

“If a well-paid CEO of such an essential firm fails to supply readability inside a number of months – that’s, to fully clear up the scandal, to speak (sic) in full transparency about what “did not work and what can be achieved sooner or later, to regain buyers’ belief and, above all, shield the corporate from long-term harm – then he must depart,” Fuchs wrote in his message.

ADM faces different headwinds, together with weak crop costs, uncertainty round biofuel regulation and a potential tariff battle between the USA and China that would upend world commerce flows as early as January, after President-elect Donald Trump took workplace.

(Reporting by PJ Huffstutter in Chicago; further reporting by Chris Prentice in New York and Karl Plume in Chicago; modifying by Chris Reese and Rod Nickel)