Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Published: Thursday, November 01, 2001

LOS ANGELES—Christopher Pair has resigned as president and CEO of Herbalife International Inc. (HERBA), a move that a New York-based shareholder in the company, Steel Partners II, considers a positive change.

Steel Partners has reopened a letter-writing campaign in which it is demanding that HERBA pursue a sale, citing rapidly increasing marketing costs and conflicts of interest among executives as a potential difficulty within the company. The strain between executives, Steel Partners says, is the result of a trust fund, initiated by the founder of Herbalife, the late Mark Hughes, on behalf of his son. The trust is managed by three executives, including Pair, and represents a significant stake in the company. Steel Partners owns 4 percent of HERBA’s class B shares.

An HERBA spokeswoman told Reuters: “The letter is not saying anything new. We have previously responded to them. ... Mr. Pair’s departure has nothing to do with them or their letters.”

Reportedly, Pair resigned after being continually criticized for the way in which he has operated the company in the year and a half since the death of founder Hughes. Pair remains a member of the Herbalife board and a trustee of the Mark Hughes Trust.