Sima Sistani, who embraced Ozempic, is out as CEO of WeightWatchers

WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani, who pushed the company into embracing weight-loss drugs, is leaving the position after a two-year stint.

WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani, who pushed the company into embracing weight-loss drugs, is leaving the position after a two-year stint. Under Sistani, the 61-year-old company bought a telehealth platform that connected patients with doctors who can prescribe weight-loss and diabetes drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, representing a radical change for the service that made its name for in-person meetings and portion control. “These medications have shown, and science has evolved to say, that living with obesity is a chronic condition. It’s important, no matter what it means for our business, to just be clear about that. It’s not willpower alone,” Sistani previously told CNN about the changes. “What we are now saying is we know better and it’s on us to do better so that we can help people feel positive and destigmatize this conversation around obesity.” But the pivot didn’t work and the stock has plummeted 90% year to date as people use GLP-1 drugs on their own rather than through companies such as WeightWatchers. Shares slipped another 4% Friday. The stock took another hit in February when star investor Oprah Winfrey announced she was leaving the company’s board and donated all of her stock to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Winfrey joined the board in 2015 and bought a 10% stake, immediately giving the beleaguered company relevance.