Sinovac's COVID fortune fuels bitter boardroom battle
Power struggle traces back to 2016, with co-founders on opposite sides
China's Sinovac earned vast profits from its COVID-19 vaccine. © Reuters
TANG AILIN, YANG YUGI, YU NING and WANG XINTONG, Caixin
The COVID-19 pandemic turned Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech into a global household name after its CoronaVac jab became a billion-dollar money-spinner and one of the world's most-administered inoculations against the virus. But hidden away behind its success lies a bitter, decade-long power struggle for control of the company.
The founders of the Nasdaq-listed company and their institutional backers have been at war since a failed attempt to take the company private in 2016. The latest twist in the long-running drama came on July 8, when a special shareholder meeting (SM) requisitioned by a group of dissident shareholders to install a new board descended into chaos.
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