Weight Watchers’ share price surged by almost 20% after Oprah Winfrey tweeted a video ad about how she lost 26 pounds using the programme.
The talkshow star, who took a 10% stake in the company in October, posted a 32-second video ad telling her 31 million Twitter followers how she shed the weight – while eating bread every day.
“I love bread,” says Winfrey in the new commercial. “That’s the genius of this programme. I lost 26 pounds and I have eaten bread every single day.”
Eat bread. Lose weight. Whaaatttt? #ComeJoinMe https://t.co/jUgpk9ToXY https://t.co/xtnB53EwSf
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 26, 2016
The endorsement by the billionaire, who has a seat on the board of the company, saw Weight Watchers’ share price surge by 19.5% to $13.29 at the close of trading on Tuesday.
Winfrey, who has a deal with the company that includes making personal endorsements, singlehandedly added nearly $150m to Weight Watchers’ market capitalisation, with her stake gaining about $12.5m in value.
Winfrey paid $43m for a 10% stake in the weight-loss company in October, after which its stock value rose from $6.79 to $15, before sliding back.
She owns about 15% of the company when 3.5 million of stock options are included.
