It was a somewhat ordinary day for David Pyott, the CEO of Allergan, back in April 2014. That is until his eyes glanced over at the TV screen in his office, where he learned that billionaire hedge fund manager and activist investor Bill Ackman was about to back the takeover of his company by way of a hostile takeover.

The acquirer was none other than the infamous and controversial pharmaceutical company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Valeant was a Wall Street darling and one of Canada’s largest companies. So why and how did this transaction lead to Valeant's downfall only a year later?

Listen to Episode 53 of The Great Fail to hear the story. Special thanks to Joe Nocera for his contributions to this segment.

Valeant Pharma Sources

The rise and fall of Valeant Pharmaceuticals

The Roll-Up Racket

What Valeant’s fall from grace can teach the drug industry

THE VALEANT MELTDOWN AND WALL STREET’S MAJOR DRUG PROBLEM

Valeant CEO didn’t tell investors real story about sales growth

Explaining Valeant: The Main Theories

A Buried Scandal, Shedding Of Assets, And Forthcoming Spinoff Means Substantial Upside For Bausch Health

The Demise of Valeant Pharmaceuticals: A Case Study in Rotten Culture and Business Ethics

Valeant Makes Hostile Bid For Allergan

Inside A Hostile Takeover: The Allergan-Valeant War

Wikipedia: Milan Panić

Special Guest: Joe Nocera, Business Columnist at Bloomberg

Joe Nocera is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. He is the host and writer of the Bloomberg-Wondery podcast "The Shrink Next Door."

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