Eli Lilly on Tuesday said Chief Financial Officer Josh Smiley had quit after accusations about a personal relationship triggered an inquiry that found the executive engaging in an "inappropriate personal communication" with some of the company's staff.
The news comes as U.S. regulators gave Eli Lilly's combination COVID-19 anti-body vaccine emergency use approval, according to Bloomberg on Wednesday, citing a fact sheet posted Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration.
Shares dropped 2% overnight but are up more than 40% on year.
"The investigation revealed consensual though inappropriate personal communications with more than one employee and behavior that Lilly leadership concluded exhibited poor judgment by Mr. Smiley," Eli Lilly said in a statement to CNN Business on Tuesday.
The Indianapolis-based drugmaker said Smiley showed poor judgment by his behavior. The company did not provide any details about the communications nor the nature of the relationship.
A LinkedIn search showed Smiley's account was no longer available. Reuters could not immediately reach Smiley for comment.
Smiley has worked with Lilly since 1995 and became CFO in 2018. He will be replaced by Anat Ashkenazi, who was most recently senior vice president, controller and CFO of Lilly Research Laboratories, the company said.
Smiley has agreed to waive his $1 million cash bonus for 2020, the roughly $3 million he received between 2018 and 2020, and around $20 million in total current and future stocks, based on the company's current share price, a public filing showed.
