Pierre Brondeau has returned to lead Philadelphia’s FMC, aiming to rescue the troubled pesticide maker while its board explores a potential sale, writes Joseph N. DiStefano for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Brondeau stepped down as chief executive of the company in 2019, passing the leadership to his right-hand man, Mark R. Douglas, whom he described as “a little smarter and a little younger.”
By using “precision agriculture,” which applies AI to crop-protecting insect, weed, and fungus treatments in fast-expanding markets such as Brazil and India, Douglas helped push shares above $100 for the first time in 2020. These levels remained strong during the pandemic sales surge.
Shares dropped below $50 in 2023 as profits slowed. Douglas exited FMC in 2024 with $6 million in severance, and Brondeau resumed leadership.
His plans include selling the India business, cutting the dividend, and outsourcing production, while recovery remains slow amid patent expirations and weak new-product adoption.
But one of the things that he is keeping intact is research.
“Research in our field is very expensive; it is critical for a company like us to sustain spending on R&D to renew the market,” he said.
Read more about Pierre Brondeau and his aim to rescue FMC at this critical juncture in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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