ADM shareholder presses CEO to resign as criminal probe continues

By P.J. Huffstutter

CHICAGO (Reuters) -A shareholder of agribusiness Archer-Daniels-Midland is pressing the company’s CEO to resign for failing to clearly tell investors about problems with its internal accounting practices that have sparked a criminal investigation first reported by Reuters.

In a LinkedIn post entitled “Investor-misery has a name: ADM,” Hartwig Fuchs said ADM was the worst stock in his portfolio this year and blamed ADM CEO Juan Luciano.

Fuchs was the board chairman of German trading firm Alfred C. Toepfer International when ADM owned a majority stake in the firm. Fuchs left Toepfer in 2009 and Chicago-based ADM acquired it in 2014.

“A German proverb says: The fish always stinks from the head,” Fuchs wrote in his post, dated Sunday.

ADM declined to comment on Fuchs’ post on Monday. It was not immediately clear how many ADM shares Fuchs owns.

ADM was forced to amend years of financial reporting in March and November after discovering sales between its nutrition business and other core units were not recorded properly. The company cut its 2024 profit outlook last month, citing policy uncertainty, slow demand and “internal operational challenges.”

Federal prosecutors in recent months have expanded their inquiries into whether ADM or its employees committed crimes including securities fraud and conspiracy, according to subpoenas reviewed by Reuters and people familiar with the probe.

Government investigations are not evidence of wrongdoing and do not necessarily result in charges. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan on Monday declined to comment on the investigation.

ADM’s stock price is down nearly 30% from a year ago, and ADM’s shareholders, including Fuchs, are asking questions and pointing fingers as to who is to blame.

“If a highly paid CEO of such an important company cannot manage to provide clarity within a few months – i.e. fully clear up the scandal, comunicate (sic) with full Transparency about what went wrong and what will be done in the future, regain investors trust and, above all, protect the company from long-term damage – then he has to go,” Fuchs wrote in his post.

ADM is facing other headwinds including low crop prices, uncertainty around biofuels regulations and a possible tariff battle between the United States and China that could upend global trade flows as soon as January, after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.