Latest news with #Gareth Sheridan
Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Times
Who is Gareth Sheridan, the ‘pharma-bro' hoping to be Ireland's president?
G areth Sheridan arrives at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Stillorgan just a few minutes late, without his wife Heidi, who has attended all his other media commitments. It is a glorious Friday afternoon and the sun is splitting the summer skies, but he seems just a little preoccupied. It has been a bruising few days for Ireland's youngest aspiring presidential candidate, who has been forced to answer questions on everything from his own business dealings, to social housing planning objections lodged by his mother, to a business partner's reported links to Russian oligarchs. His interview with The Sunday Times was originally due to take place in his home, with his family around him. But there is a last-minute change of location to a hotel, and he arrives on his own.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Very small number of investors own vast bulk of shares in Gareth Sheridan's US firm
The wealth of Dublin businessman Gareth Sheridan (35), who is seeking a nomination to run in the forthcoming presidential election , is centred on Florida-based Nutriband, the shares of which are traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange. At a press conference on Thursday, Sheridan said his shares in Nutriband had a value of approximately $16 million , though the value changed with the share price. Other than that, he had savings of approximately €500,000, he said. Company filings show his annual salary as CEO was $150,000, with additional stock options. The company is awaiting the decision of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on regulatory approval for the product it wants to develop, a new, transdermal patch for the safer delivery of the powerful opioid painkiller fentanyl. At the press conference Sheridan said: 'The company is going to be very impactful for thousands of lives a year when that FDA approval comes. I'm very proud of that.' READ MORE A less certain assessment of the situation was made in a market filing from Nutriband when it was issuing new shares in July to fund its ongoing operations. At the time, the loss-making company had an accumulated deficit of $39.8 million. Investors, Nutriband said, should be aware that the company was subject to significant risks. 'If we are not able to obtain FDA approval for our lead product, we may not have the resources to develop any other product, and we may not be able to continue in business,' it said. The company's shares have been trading on Nasdaq since October 2021. On July 2nd, 2025, it had 'approximately 117 holders of record of our common stock', according to the document. [ 'Don't underestimate this guy': Who is Gareth Sheridan, the pharma millionaire running for president? Opens in new window ] Of that small number of shareholders, a key few own the bulk of the company. According to the July document, Sheridan then held 17.65 per cent of the stock. The man who temporarily took over as CEO from Sheridan last week, chairman Serguei Melnik, had 9.39 per cent. Other key figures had smaller percentages, but director Sergei Glinka, who bought his shares last year, had 19.33 per cent. Together these figures, the document said, had 54.39 per cent. 'We have very loyal shareholders who have been with us for a very long time,' Sheridan told the press conference. The July document showed another shareholder, Vitalie Botgros, owned 39 per cent of the company. Botgros is a former chairman of Nutriband and a long-time investor. Cumulatively, therefore, more than 90 per cent of the shares are held by a very small number of investors. Data for the past year shows the daily closing share price has fallen to less than $4 and reached above $10. These price fluctuations directly affect the nominal wealth of each of the major shareholders. The volume of trade has also varied enormously, with a few thousand shares trading on some days, and more than three million on other days, including Friday of last week, when the share price closed at $7.7. [ Co-founder of Gareth Sheridan's US business involved in 2019 Moldova airline privatisation controversy Opens in new window ] Melnik, Glinka and Botgros are all from Moldova (Melnik now lives in the US). Both Glinka and Botgros previously worked (prior to the war in Ukraine) for a now-sanctioned Russian railway rolling stock conglomerate called Transmashholding, associated with a sanctioned Russian billionaire called Iskander Makhmudov. In 2018, there was major controversy in Moldova after the takeover of Air Moldova by a Romanian company in which Melnik was reported to be a 25 per cent shareholder, with a report from a parliamentary inquiry being severely critical of the deal. At his press conference, Sheridan said this had nothing to do with Nutriband or his bid to become President of the Irish Republic.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Gareth Sheridan plays down business partner's Moldovan airline controversy as ‘not an issue' for election
Presidential hopeful Gareth Sheridan has said he knows 'very little' about his business partner's involvement in a controversial airline privatisation deal in Moldova . Speaking at the formal launch of his presidential campaign in Dublin, Mr Sheridan said he had not spoken to his business partner Serguei Melnik, who has succeeded him as chief executive of his company Nutriband for the duration of the campaign, about his involvement in the Air Moldova deal and possible links to Russian oligarchs. Mr Sheridan said he knew 'very little about that situation' and added that it was 'not an issue' in terms of the focus of his campaign, housing. The 35-year-old said he was confident he had a proposer and seconder to secure nominations for Laois and Tipperary county councils and declined to name four others he also believed he could secure nominations from. READ MORE Mr Sheridan, who would be the youngest ever presidential candidate if he secures a nomination, has budgeted for a campaign fund of up to €500,000, although he hoped to do it for less from his own funds. He said his net worth was $16 million (€13.7m) based on the current value of his shares in his business Nutriband and he has $500,000 (€429,627) in cash holdings. His campaign is focused on housing, he added, and he wants to 'make Ireland home again', a phrase he denied had Trumpian connotations. He pointed to Article 45.2.1 of the Constitution which obliges the State to direct policy so that citizens 'may through their occupations find the means of making reasonable provision for their domestic needs'. Mr Sheridan said people should be able to afford to buy a home in Ireland, which they are not able to do. Gareth Sheridan with his wife Heidi after the briefing at the Shelbourne hotel. Photograph: Alan Betson/ The Irish Times Launching his campaign at the Shelbourne Hotel, with his wife Heidi in attendance, Mr Sheridan started his address by drawing attention to media coverage of him in the last number of days, which he described as 'a little off'. He addressed his relationship with Sean Gallagher , who twice put himself forward unsuccessfully in presidential elections, and was executive chairman of Nutriband for four years to 2022. [ Mairead McGuinness drops out of presidential race due to health reasons Opens in new window ] Mr Sheridan said that after the company was listed on the Nasdaq in the US, it was decided to replace Mr Gallagher with Serguei Melnik, who had more experience with capital markets. 'We asked [Mr Gallagher] to voluntarily step aside on the same remuneration,' he said. 'Communication broke down at the next shareholder meeting' and Mr Melnik was voted in to replace Mr Gallagher. Mr Gallagher then resigned from the Nutriband board. 'I wish Sean the best in whatever he's working on,' Mr Sheridan said. In 2018, Mr Sheridan and his business associate, Mr Melnik, were fined $25,000 (€21,400) each by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), arising from the issuing of misleading statements by Nutriband in 2017 and 2018, when the two men were the company's only full-time employees. Nutribrand chief executive Gareth Sheridan with chairman Sergei Melnik. Photograph: Instagram Six statements made during the period mischaracterised the company's products as not requiring regulatory approval in the US, the SEC said. Asked about the fines, Mr Sheridan said they had received advice from two attorneys and a dermatologist who had independently advised that FDA approval was not needed. He said in the business he was in, 'you have to rely on people who are experts in that space. I'm not for a second claiming that I'm an FDA attorney'. Mr Sheridan was asked for a response to a report that his business partner Mr Melnik, the US-resident Moldovan lawyer who is chairman and chief executive of Nutriband, was a shareholder in a company that bought Air Moldova in 2018 in a deal that became the subject of controversy in Moldova, leading to an inquiry by a parliamentary committee. 'It's not an issue in terms of trying to put a focus on the housing crisis in Ireland,' he said. Asked if he owned a home or invested in the private rental market he said: 'We have our house in Utah and we have a rental house in Utah. We rent in Dublin.' He added: 'There isn't a housing crisis in Salt Lake City Utah, there is in Dublin.' He drives a 'used 2021 Mercedes hybrid'.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Gallagher quit Nutribrand after firm decided to change chairman, says presidential hopeful Sheridan
Former presidential candidate Seán Gallagher resigned from his role at Nutribrand after it decided to replace him as chairman, the company's chief executive, Gareth Sheridan , has said. Mr Sheridan, who announced his own bid for the presidency over the weekend, said the company was 'surprised' when Mr Gallagher raised the issue of a basketball corporate box in his January 2022 resignation letter. The 35-year-old pharma businessman from Terenure in Dublin intends to run as an independent candidate, seeking a nomination from local authorities to get on the ballot paper. Mr Sheridan cofounded US-based Nutribrand in 2012, which utilises technology to prevent the abuse of patch medications such as fentanyl. READ MORE Mr Gallagher, another Irish businessman who came second in the presidential race of 2011, became chairman of Nutribrand in 2018. However, according to Mr Sheridan, Mr Gallagher resigned from the role in January 2022 when communications broke down over a change in corporate structure. A spokesman for Mr Sheridan said Mr Gallagher's resignation came shortly after the company decided his role should be filled by 'someone with US capital markets experience'. It was decided that Serguei Melnik, a cofounder of Nutribrand, would be appointed chairman and that Mr Gallagher would 'voluntarily vacate' the role and remain as director on the same remuneration package. 'Communication broke down at this point,' the spokesman said, and Mr Gallagher submitted a resignation in January 2022. The spokesman said the company was 'surprised' when Mr Gallagher referenced a corporate box in his resignation letter. In 2020 the company paid $180,000 for a corporate box from basketball team Orlando Magic at the Amway Arena Stadium in Florida, for a renewable one-year period. The company described it as a 'good fit' because 'it is the NBA's most prominent team in the fight against the misuse of opioids'. Nutribrand retains this corporate box and has extended its contract, the spokesman said. Also declared as presidential contenders are former MEP Mairead McGuinness, selected as Fine Gael's candidate, and Independent TD for Galway West Catherine Connolly, who has support from Oireachtas members. No other parties have announced candidates as yet.
Irish Times
11-08-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Gareth Sheridan's presidential nomination is by no means certain
With three months to go before the next presidency is inaugurated , the rustling in the political undergrowth is becoming louder. On Sunday, businessman Gareth Sheridan , chief executive of a US-based pharma company, broke cover to tell the Sunday Independent that he would run as an independent candidate, seeking a nomination from local authorities to get on the ballot paper. His spokesman told The Irish Times that the candidate was confident that he would get the endorsement of at least four councils, after months lobbying councillors. But Sheridan's path to the nomination will require the co-operation of opponents and potential opponents – and that is by no means certain. READ MORE Crash: Brian Cowen and the unravelling of Ireland - part one Listen | 52:35 Fine Gael has its own candidate in Mairead McGuinness and it is questionable that the party's councillors would be permitted to facilitate the entry of a challenger to the race. The party may decide that it should open up the nominations process to outsiders. But it may also take the view: why on earth would we do that? It's not how elections work. You vote for your side. We'll vote for our side. The picture with Fianna Fáil is less clear, as that party has yet to decide whether it will run a candidate – that depends on discussions within the party, and especially with its leader Micheál Martin , in the coming weeks. If Fianna Fáil does not run a candidate, that may free up its councillors to facilitate the nomination of other candidates, including Sheridan. A party source said that there had not any substantive discussions on the issue within the party but added that councillors could not facilitate anyone who was hostile to the party. Sheridan's campaign has at least identified its path to a nomination and his spokesman insists he has been working quietly in the background for months. Other potential candidates featured in the Sunday newspapers today appear less advanced in their preparations. [ How much does it cost to run for the Áras? Opens in new window ] 'If I can help the people of Ireland in an ambassadorial role as president, then I would be honoured to.' Photograph: Brian Lawless/ PA The former Riverdance star Michael Flatley continues to tease about his ambitions. He told the Sunday Independent magazine that he and his 'team of inside advisers' were considering his options. 'I have spent the last 30 years promoting Ireland globally. After my last cancer journey, I realised that life is short and I need to do more – more with my family and more for the country that I love. If I can help the people of Ireland in an ambassadorial role as president, then I would be honoured to,' he said. However, the newspaper was also told not to take this as confirmation that Flatley is running. The Sunday Times reported variously on the ambitions of RTÉ daytime television presenter Dáithí Ó Sé – he will not be contesting on this occasion, alas, but maybe in the future – and the MMA fighter Conor McGregor . [ The Irish presidency is a moral role much more than a political one Opens in new window ] Conor McGregor in the White House in Washington, DC, on St Patrick's Day this year. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/ EPA/ Bloomberg via Getty McGregor, the paper reports, is seriously considering a legal challenge to the eligibility requirements for entry to the presidential campaign. It is not clear how serious this is. The eligibility requirements for the presidency are stated explicitly in the Constitution, not in statute law. The paper also reports that the entrepreneur and erstwhile scourge of EU treaties Declan Ganley is manoeuvring for a nomination. Ganley has been talking to Oireachtas members about nominating him but there is no sign – yet, anyway – that he has the 20 supporters he needs. As with others, going the local authority route would require the tacit co-operation of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. And anyway, as the Sunday Times wonders, what about Ganley's day job? His company is planning to launch hundreds of satellites next year. Satellites, of course, are hard to get off the ground. Ditto presidential campaigns.
