Page 10 of Tell Me the Truth

If Seth BioTech is to be kept safe from my company, I need to be convincingly clear that I don’t want to go after it again and I need to provide an alternative solution that the board members will go for.

“Call a board meeting,” I command, not allowing anyone to sway me this time. “I want everybody in the board room in ten minutes.”

Fifteen minutes later, I am sitting in the CEO’s chair with eight pairs of unsatisfied eyes staring back at me. The air is hushed and so tense you could cut it with a knife.

“I’m sure you all know why I called this meeting,” I start, knowing that Richard and Bart have prefaced the meeting for everyone with their own opinions.

“Let me be absolutely clear.” And as I look around to make sure everyone is listening to me and there can be no cause for misunderstanding, I say, “We are letting the Seth BioTech deal go.”

Sixteen eyeballs display looks of dismay, disbelief, bewilderment, surprise, and especially doubt. Every single one of these people are looking back at me with doubt over whether I’m the right person to be sitting in the CEO’s chair.

After about a minute they all start to murmur and bicker amongst themselves.

One board member, a woman with tightly bound, red hair, speaks up first and says, “You must not know everything there is to know about this deal and why it’s necessary that we move fast. They’re going to become a problem if we don’t sink them now. They’ve already cut six percent of our consumer base with their latest therapy. With every new thing that comes out of there, we know what comes next. The gradual, then speedy decrease in our profits.”

She continues speaking, “Brent-Sigma is a titan in our industry. We’ve come up in the pharmaceutical world by being the biggest bully in the yard. It’s why we are so dominant and why we are so feared. Our competitors know how we handle every weed that sprouts in our yard. We uproot them. If Seth BioTech, or any other weed is allowed to invade our yard, or worse, if our competitors fund these weeds themselves, together they could run us down.”

I attempt to assure everyone that couldn’t happen and that Seth BioTech has no plans of merging or selling a majority of its shares to any other company. But then an assertive voice booms from across the room.

“Not unless we give them a reason to.” Richard shoots me a cold glare as he conveys a controlled anger that would be enough to scare most people.

“What if it does happen?” A different woman, named Belinda, asks. She has dyed, curly, blonde hair. “What if they sell shares to any of our competitors?” Belinda’s voice is flat and sharp. I have always had the feeling that she is the most dangerous one in the room.

“They won’t.” I couldn’t see how Alexandra would sell to anyone, not after she has been offered a whopping six hundred million dollars for just thirty percent.

“And you know that how?” Belinda asks.

“I have a source,” I add. “We already offered six hundred million. Are we going to offer a billion? Two billion? They’re not going to take it, even if we sign that we’re not going to discontinue their research.”

“So, what? You’re just going to give up? Your father would have found a way.” It’s clear why Richard has made this statement in front of everyone. Not only do I think that he’s trying to get on my nerves, but he’s likely also trying to get me to do something that will give them reason to strip me of my position as CEO. Make it easy for them. But I am not going to let him.

“I’m not my father,” I tell him, looking around at everyone to emphasize this statement.

“Clearly,” Richard huffs. He sits back in his chair, crosses his arms at his elbows, then looks away.

The tension in the air tightens again and it’s several seconds before someone else speaks.

“You’re putting us in a real tough spot here,” a ruddy-skinned board member says. “We have been running things like this smoothly for over 70 years. No hiccups. We were bringing in profits. We still are. But letting that company grow from underneath us…that’s just—”

It’s been eighty-nine years since my great-grandfather founded Brent Pharmaceuticals and sixty-three years since we went public, but I don’t correct him. “Crazy? Irresponsible?” I offer up these words for him instead. “That’s what you all brazenly have written on your faces. But I can remember a time when all this wasn’t just for the money. There was a time when all of this had meaning.” I throw my hand, palm up, and wave it across the room above everyone’s head, to signify the entire building.

“We haven’t developed a new drug in five years. How long can this business model survive for a pharmaceutical company in these new times? All we’re interested in now is raking in profit. I’ve got to say, I’m disappointed.” The whole room falls quiet, thinking.

I’m relieved to notice that some of them know the truth about what I am saying. However, the board members with the most influence, like Richard and Belinda — the people who cross, erase, and draw new lines — they barely seem affected by what I am saying.

“You’re right, Richard. I’m not my father.” He peers at me, his eyes glaring. I continue, “So don’t expect me to do things exactly the way he did.”

The side of Richard’s mouth curves, almost to a grimace, before settling into a cold smile. Similar to the laugh he showered me with yesterday when I told him that I wanted to look at companies other than Seth Biotech, his smile hints at a sly calculation of something yet to come.

But that is something I will have to deal with later.

Richard stands and says, “You are more like your father than you think.” He then walks out of the room.

Richard’s exit draws an exclamation mark in the air above everyone remaining at the table. Finally, the red-haired woman inquires, “What do you want us to do now?”

“Go back to the drawing board,” I tell everyone. “It’s the twenty-first century. Let’s lead the way so that others will want to follow. Let’s figure out new ways to save the world. Because whether it’s Seth BioTech today or some other new, innovative start-up company like them. It will be them, not us, who are going to lead the way into tomorrow. Then, we will truly be in a tough spot.”

“Let’s figure out what we need to do to be leaders in the twenty-first century.” I look around at the seven pairs of eyes left in the room and see what I hope is a glimmer of understanding. “We’re leaving Seth BioTech alone.”

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