She Built a Cult Baby Formula Business. Then R.F.K. Jr. Came Calling.
The photo posted on X in March by the Department of Health and Human Services seemed innocuous.
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stands in the center, surrounded by Robert Ford, chief executive of Abbott Laboratories; Kris Licht, the chief executive of Reckitt; Patrick Lockwood-Taylor, chief executive of Perrigo; and Laura Modi, the founder and chief executive of Bobbie. The post was paired with an announcement that H.H.S. would work with these leaders to update the country's nutrition guidelines for infant formula, which have remained unchanged since 1998.
But that photo set off an animated debate among fans of Bobbie, which has made its name over the last several years as an ingredient-conscious and science-based brand.
Some cheered on Ms. Modi for being the only woman there and the only one representing a newcomer to an industry dominated by old gatekeepers. When Bobbie shared the photo on its Instagram page, many of its followers threw fire and heart emojis all over its comments.
Others wondered if she should have been there at all, meeting with Mr. Kennedy, who they say is antithetical to everything they thought the Bobbie brand stood for.
That the other chief executives in the photo didn't receive this kind of scrutiny illustrates the difficulty of being a business leader who has been vocal about their company's purpose during the current administration, when every decision about a company's values can become politically charged.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
15 minutes ago
- New York Times
Wild and Marco Rossi remain at contract impasse as trade possibilities emerge: ‘Only time will tell'
Teams have started to call the Minnesota Wild about restricted free agent Marco Rossi, but even with negotiations on a new contract going nowhere, Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said Sunday he's not 'dying' to trade the 23-year-old center. That doesn't mean he won't, of course. Advertisement Guerin made clear during a conversation with The Athletic that there's a certain price point he's willing to go to in contract talks with Rossi — and, so far, Rossi's ask has been significantly higher. The Wild have made two contract offers — five years, $25 million in the winter, per league sources, and a shorter-term offer last week. While the five-year offer had previously been rejected (after a bridge counter the Wild didn't agree to), Rossi's camp has not yet countered the Wild's recent bridge offer. The sides are expected to speak again this coming week. However, given that Rossi received the third-lowest ice time of any Wild player in the playoffs (11:08 per game) with most of his even-strength shifts on the fourth line, it's very unlikely now that Rossi would accept a bridge deal and risk being deployed in the bottom-six during the term of his next contract. After the season, he said he was 'very disappointed' with how the Wild utilized him in their playoffs. 'I think sometimes you just have disagreements on where a player is at, and that's fine,' Guerin said. 'And sometimes it takes a little while longer to work through things. But out there, there's this belief that we don't like him or we're going to trade him. 'And look, he's no different than any other player. If we can make our team better by trading someone, we're going to do it. But that doesn't mean we don't like the player. And Marco is a player that we like. He had a good season again. So I don't know where all this is coming from. … Marco's a good player.' THAT'S A WILD OT WIN! 🤩 Marco Rossi wins it for the @mnwild in @Energizer overtime! — NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2025 Rossi ranks No. 2 on The Athletic's Chris Johnston's offseason trade board. He is ineligible for salary arbitration, which would have provided a one- or two-year term, but is eligible to sign an offer sheet with 31 other teams as early as July 1. So there is a pressure point for the Wild to potentially trade Rossi if a contract isn't agreed upon this month. Advertisement 'There clearly is a difference of opinion with respect to Marco's value,' Rossi's agent, Ian Pulver, told The Athletic on Sunday. 'We will continue in good faith to engage the Wild to attempt to reach resolution. We understand that Billy likes Marco, but for how much? And in what role going forward? (That) is the subject of great debate. 'Like the Wild, we believe we have advanced very fair and reasonable contract proposals. What the future holds for Marco and the Wild, only time will tell.' Guerin categorized the Wild's two contract offers to Rossi as 'significant.' 'They don't like it,' Guerin said. 'And that's fine. This is not a knock on them. They feel he's of more value. But to say I don't like him, if you knew what the value of what those contract offers were, you'd say, 'Oh, he definitely likes him and wants to keep him.'' The Wild's five-year contract offer to Rossi for a $5 million average annual value is in line with Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell and Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome. Rossi, on a seven- or eight-year term, is likely looking at comparables like the Ottawa Senators' Dylan Cozens ($7.1 million), Buffalo Sabres' Josh Norris ($7.95 million) and the Wild's Matt Boldy, who signed a seven-year, $49 million extension in January 2023. Rossi, the ninth pick in the 2020 draft, followed a 21-goal, 40-point season during his first full year in the NHL with a career-high 24 goals and 60 points last season. At five-on-five, he was on the ice for 56 goals compared to Boldy's 50 and 43 goals against compared to Boldy's 44. Overall, Boldy followed a 15-goal, 39-point rookie year in just 47 games with 31 goals and 63 points in 2022-23, 29 goals and 69 points in 2023-24 and 27 goals and 73 points last season. Boldy averaged nearly two minutes more per game the past two years than Rossi. Advertisement Calgary Flames 22-year-old winger Matthew Coronato recently signed a seven-year contract worth $6.5 million. It's hard to imagine Rossi agreeing to any long-term deal for less than that, but so far the Wild have shown no appetite to go anywhere in the vicinity. On a three-year term, Evolving-Hockey estimates Rossi is a $5.262 million player this summer. On a five-year term, the site has him at $6.067 million. On a seven-year term, it's at $6.688 million. For being undersized, Rossi doesn't shy away from going to the dirty areas. According to NHL Edge player- and puck-tracking data, 67 of his 136 shots were from the high-danger area (92nd percentile in the NHL), as were 18 of his 24 goals (94th percentile). Guerin denied a report from DailyFaceoff that he asked Philadelphia for Tyson Foerster or one of the Flyers' late first-round picks in a trade for Rossi, saying, 'I've talked to lots of teams about lots of players — not just Marco — and names come up all the time, but there's never been any serious discussion with anybody yet.' The Flyers are in the market for a second-line center, as are teams like the Vancouver Canucks, Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Flames and Montreal Canadiens. Asked if he's gotten much interest so far in Rossi, Guerin said, 'Yeah, teams see this stuff written and they call, but like I said, Marco's a good player and I'm not interested in making our team worse or postponing our team being better. So I'm not dying to get rid of Marco. That's the bottom line.' Most trades this month happen around the draft, which is June 27 and 28, but Guerin indicated he could be active much sooner. 'If we ever did something, I don't have to wait for the draft or anything,' he said. 'But again, that's not for Marco. That's for anybody.' This is a big offseason for the Wild, who are finally unshackled from a majority of the buyout pain for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Guerin reiterated Sunday that he is confident the Wild will be able to sign Kirill Kaprizov to a contract extension this summer and said he also will be looking at potentially external additions via free agency or trying to make bold moves via trade. He wants to upgrade the center position this offseason and potentially add a scoring winger. Advertisement One current Wild unrestricted free agent that the Wild may re-sign is veteran left wing Marcus Johansson if they can get the 34-year-old on a significant haircut to his recently expired two-year, $4 million contract. He could be open to returning on an inexpensive contract. In his second stint with the Wild, Johansson has scored 28 goals and 82 points in 170 games. The Wild also plan to tender defenseman Declan Chisholm a qualifying offer if they can't re-sign the restricted free agent before July 1. (Photo of Marco Rossi: Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)
Associated Press
15 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Scottie Scheffler joins Tiger Woods as only repeat winners at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Scottie Scheffler never lost the lead and never gave anyone much of a chance down the stretch Sunday in another relentless performance, closing with a 2-under 70 for a four-shot victory to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners of the Memorial. Slowed by hand surgery at the start of the year from a freak accident, Scheffler appears to be in full stride with one major already in the bag and another around the corner at the U.S. Open. 'It's always a hard week,' said Scheffler, who finished at 10-under 278. 'We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week.' On one of the tougher PGA Tour tests of the year, Scheffler made one bogey over the final 40 holes at Muirfield Village. 'Well, you did it again,' tournament host Jack Nicklaus told him walking off the green. Ben Griffin tried to make it interesting at the end with a 12-foot eagle on the par-5 15th and a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to close within two shots with two to play. Scheffler, however, doesn't make mistakes. Griffin made double bogey on the 17th. Griffin made a 4-foot par on the 18th for a 73 to finish alone in second, worth $2.2 million, more than what he earned when he won at Colonial last week. Sepp Straka (70) finished another shot back. 'You know Scottie's probably going to play a good round of golf. The guy's relentless. He loves competition, and he doesn't like giving up shots,' Straka said. 'But it's one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push.' Scheffler now has won three times in his last four starts — the exception was Colonial, a tie for fourth the week after winning the PGA Championship — and expanded his margin at No. 1 in the world to levels not seen since Woods in his peak years. Woods is a five-time winner at Memorial who won three straight from 1999 through 2001. No one had repeated at Muirfield Village since then until Scheffler. His performances lately look a lot more like Nicklaus the way he wears down the field by rarely getting out of position. Rickie Fowler had his first top 10 of the year at just the right time. He made par on the 18th to tie for seventh, earning him a spot in the British Open. Fowler tied with Brandt Snedeker at 1-under 287, but gets the one Open exemption available based on a higher world ranking — Fowler at No. 124, Snedeker at No. 430. 'That's one I've wanted on the schedule,' said Fowler, who faces a 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Open on Monday. Both received sponsor exemptions to the Memorial, a signature event on the PGA Tour. For Scheffler, it was his fifth victory in a $20 million signature event in the last two years. This one looked inevitable, but only after a quick development early on the back nine. Scheffler ended 31 holes without a bogey at tough Muirfield Village on the 10th hole, dropping his lead to one shot. Griffin had 4 feet for birdie on the par-5 11th. Scheffler made his 15-foot birdie putt and Griffin missed. Griffin bogeyed the next two holes, and just like that, Scheffler was four shots ahead. That's how it was at the PGA Championship — tight one minute, a blowout the next, and the sweetest walk toward the 18th green with victory secure. This one ended in a handshake with Nicklaus, who had said earlier in the week of Scheffler, 'He plays a lot like I did.' Nicklaus said he was all about fairways and greens, having plenty of chances and making enough of them to post a score. That's the Scheffler way, too, even if it didn't always look that way at the start of the final round. With mud on the golf ball in the first fairway, too much spin on short irons on the next few holes, Scheffler didn't have a birdie putt until the fifth hole. He saved par seven times in the final round, including the final hole. ___ AP golf:
Washington Post
19 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Michigan State president advises board to hire Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt, AP source says
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz is recommending the school's board of trustees hire J Batt as athletic director , according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the president's hopes of hiring the Georgia Tech athletic director had not been announced. Michigan State is expected to announce Batt is Guskiewicz's pick as soon as Monday, the person said. With the help of Hall of Fame basketball coach Tom Izzo, the school has been searching for an athletic director for a month. Alan Haller's last day as athletic director was May 11. Batt has been Georgia Tech's athletic director since the fall of 2022. He hired football coach Brent Key , who has led the program to consecutive winning seasons after a string of four losing seasons in a row. He also hired Damon Stoudamire to coach the basketball team and the former NBA player was .500 last season in his second year. Previously, Batt was executive deputy athletics director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department. Batt is regarded as a strong fundraiser, an asset for any athletic department in this era of college athletics. He guided the launch of a 10-year, $600 million fundraising campaign to benefit Crimson Tide athletics. He helped raise $78.2 million for athletics in his first fiscal year at Georgia Tech to surpass the previous single-year mark by more than 40%. At Michigan State, his top priorities will be to raise money and help the football program win — perhaps in that order. Universities will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with athletes next year. Direct payments will be in addition to third-party name, image and likeness deals facilitated by school-affiliated collectives. Under Haller, the Spartans won Big Ten championships in men's basketball, women's soccer, women's gymnastics, men's hockey and women's cross country. Michigan State, though, has had three straight losing seasons in football. The Spartans were 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten in coach Jonathan Smith's first year and expectations for them are modest in his second season. ___ AP college sports:
