Right-wing media entrepreneur Ben Shapiro has taken a $4.7 million stake in a struggling Israeli pharmaceutical company and joined the board.
(Bloomberg) — Right-wing media entrepreneur Ben Shapiro has taken a $4.7 million stake in a struggling Israeli pharmaceutical company and joined the board.
Shapiro, 39, a co-founder of media company The Daily Wire and host of the Ben Shapiro Show podcast, now owns 4.8% of Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., according to regulatory filings published late Monday. That makes him the company’s biggest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Shapiro’s investment comes after Oramed’s stock price collapsed by 80% due to its failure in January in a years-long effort to develop a method to deliver insulin to diabetics orally, rather than by injection. The company has since said it would “explore potential strategic alternatives” including an acquisition, merger, business combination, or other transaction.
Oramed rose 8.4% to $2.66 at 10:33 a.m. in New York. The company, which is traded in both New York and Tel Aviv, has a market value of $106 million, down from a peak of $1.1 billion in 2021.
“This is a pure investment move,” Shapiro said in an emailed statement. “I identified Oramed as an undervalued stock in January 2023 given its low market cap, publicly disclosed cash holdings, and apparent low burn rate. I have great faith that the board will be able to use the company’s capital in effective and diverse ways, including but certainly not limited to its current biotech-centered strategy.”
Shapiro bought the shares on the open market, he said. The filings didn’t say how much he paid for the stock, though his 1.9 million shares were worth $4.7 million as of Monday’s close. He also now holds 20,000 restricted stock units that can be converted into additional Oramed stock over three years, the filings said.
Podcasting, Media
His appointment to the board is unconnected to his podcasting and media ventures and is a private business decision, Oramed said in response to questions from Bloomberg News.
Shapiro’s ownership stake and “extensive operational and business background and acumen” makes him a valuable addition, the company said in a news release. He bought the shares on the open market and Oramed said it doesn’t know what he paid for them.
The Daily Wire, founded by Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing, hosts podcasts by Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and commentators Candace Owens and Matt Walsh, while producing streaming video content.
The company describes itself as right of center politically and one of the US’s fastest-growing media businesses. It’s part of a universe of right-leaning media companies that have sprung up in recent years, including the Peter Thiel-backed Rumble Inc. and former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social.
(Updates with shares in fourth paragraph, statement from Shapiro in fifth.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.