The activist investor that Whole Foods Market Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Mackey labeled as “greedy bastards” has sold its stake in the grocer and made a profit of about $300 million in a matter of months.
Jana Partners sold about 26 million shares in Whole Foods over the past month for combined proceeds of about $1.1 billion, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. The New York hedge fund, founded by Barry Rosenstein, began selling its shares in the supermarket chain on June 19.
The sale caps one of the more colorful recent sagas in activist investing. Jana announced a stake in Whole Foods in April and criticized the chain’s poor performance, vowing to shake up the board and possibly seek a takeover of the company. The move prompted Mackey to reach out to Amazon.com Inc., seeking a friendly buyer. The e-commerce giant agreed to purchase Whole Foods on June 16 for $13.7 billion, marking the biggest acquisition in its history.
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