The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

monsanto weaves its web, 1995–1999 199company claimed that its GMOs had received regulatory approval in twentycountries, including the United Kingdom. 41 Piling on the mishaps, in September,the British magazine The Ecologist published a special sixty-five-pagefeature recounting the entire history of the company from its founding in1905. 42 The fourteen thousand copies of the first printing were pulped byPenwells, the printer who had worked for the magazine for twenty-five years,because of “pressures” whose source they never publicly identified. ZacGoldsmith, editor of The Ecologist, had to find another printer, but two majorBritish newsagents refused to distribute the new copies. 43CEO Musical ChairsIn any event, Robert Shapiro’s days of glory were at an end. Starting in thefall of 1998, Monsanto went into decline on Wall Street: “Monsanto stockhas lost more than a third of its value in the last 14 months, and analysts believethat company executives could be forced into radical changes, possiblyincluding breaking Monsanto into pieces.” 44 Around the same time, LeMonde wrote: “Monsanto is now nothing but a kind of giant start-up in plantbiotechnology, with revenues of $8.6 billion and losses of $250 million in1998. Its recent numerous acquisitions in seed companies, sometimes paidfor at premium prices, have cut into its profits. Investors are beginning toshun the company . . . and yesterday’s friends are turning away for fear ofbeing discredited in turn.” 45The rout was so complete that Shapiro was forced to declare a cease-firewith his worst enemies: on October 6, 1999, he agreed to participate in abusiness conference organized by Greenpeace in London. Unable (or notdaring) to appear in person, his presentation was recorded in St. Louis andtransmitted by satellite onto a giant screen, where his face appeared “drawnand ashen,” according to the Washington Post. 46 Making amends in front ofa stunned audience, the CEO, who would resign some months later, said:“We have probably irritated and antagonized more people than we have persuaded.Our confidence in this technology and our enthusiasm for it has, Ithink, been widely seen—and understandably so—as condescension or indeedarrogance.” Then, addressing Peter Melchett, executive director ofGreenpeace UK and a former agriculture minister, he promised “not to commercializethe technologies popularly known as terminator or sterile seed