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Howard Solomon, 94, Died; Business Success Had Personal Success


“Forest Pharmaceuticals consciously chose to pursue corporate profit over its obligations to the FDA and to the American public,” said US attorney for Massachusetts Carmen Ortiz when the deal was announced.

The company denied the allegations. In a statement at the time, Mr. Solomon said, “We are committed to ensuring that we fully comply with all laws and regulations.”

In 2011, Forest Labs won proxy war against shareholder activist Carl C. Icahn, who claimed that the company had lost billions of dollars in shareholder value over the previous decade, among other things. Mr. Icahn continued to follow. A second proxy war with Forest Labs in 2012 ended when one of their candidates was elected to the company’s board of directors.

In a letter to Mr Icahn during that fight, Mr. Suleiman wrote: “Your rhetoric so far has shown a striking lack of strategic insight. Instead, it’s full of wild and unfounded accusations, innuendo, and distortions of facts.”

However, at some point, Mr. Solomon reached out to Mr. Icahn and they had a series of dinners.

“We became friends,” Mr. Icahn said in a phone call. “I thought he was a kind gentleman, a kind man.” He added: “I totally disagreed with the way he ran the business, but he was a nice guy who was excited about the outcome. He made a lot of money.”

In 2013, Mr. Solomon announced his retirement as CEO and was replaced by Brent Saunders, a manager friend of Mr. Icahn. Then, in early 2014, Actavis (now Allergan) paid $25 billion to acquire Forest Labs. Mr. Solomon, who is currently chairman of the board, left after the acquisition and started a family investment company with his younger son David, a Forest Labs executive.

In addition to his sons, Mr. Solomon is survived by his wife, Sarah Billinghurst Solomon, a former assistant director of arts at the Metropolitan Opera, and five grandchildren. His first wife, Carolyn (Bower) Solomon, died in 1991.



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