FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESS SECTION, PAGE ONE:

CONQUEST BIOTECH’S STOCK PLUMMETS AFTER SON STEPS INTO FATHER’S JOB

Simon Oliver III, the chief executive officer and chairman of the leading biotechnology firm Conquest Biotech, passed away unexpectedly late Sunday night, according to company officials.

The same press release also announced that his son, Simon Oliver IV, was elected to the chief executive’s position in an emergency board meeting convened via telephone.

The news hit just before stocks began trading on Monday. By noon, Conquest had lost nearly thirty percent of its value.

Although the stock price stabilized before the end of the day, analysts said that the reason is obvious: Mr. Oliver is not ready for his father’s job.

Mr. Oliver, 23, is better known for his activities outside of work hours. He has been linked romantically to everyone from supermodels and porn stars to reality-­TV mainstays such as Kim Kardashian. (A representative of Ms. Kardashian said that she and Mr. Oliver were simply good friends.) His only previous attempt to involve himself in Conquest was a disastrous attempt to diversify the company in movies and music videos, which ended in several lawsuits. A 2009 drug charge against him was dropped after he agreed to enter a rehabilitation program.

Conquest, best known for its series of antiaging pharmaceuticals, has met or beaten earning expectations every quarter for the past five years. But it is facing an expiration on the patent for Revita, its most popular—­and profitable—­drug, which is used to increase cell vitality and spur synapse growth in elderly patients.

This, plus the selection of Mr. Oliver, has big investors looking for the exits, said Irfan Khan, an analyst with Bank of America Securities.

“Right now, Conquest needs another home run, and they’ve brought up a kid from the minors who’s basically incapable of finding a bat, let alone hitting it out of the park,” he said.

But the investors are essentially powerless to change the selection, no matter how far the stock drops. While anyone can buy common stock in Conquest, the Oliver family, which founded the company in 1946 as a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals for the U.S. military and other customers, still controls the majority of special voting stock—­giving them a 3-­to-­1 advantage over other voters. Every member of the board is either related to the Oliver family or one of the original employees of the company.

Until now, investors have been willing to trade their lack of control for the exorbitant profits and dividends that Conquest has always delivered, Mr. Khan said. But with someone like Mr. Oliver at the helm, the big financial firms have decided the trade-­off is no longer worth it.

Through a representative, Mr. Oliver and Conquest declined to comment for this article.