The exit of the media icon, who has been a board member since 2015, comes at a time when WW is struggling to turn a profit. The stock fell nearly 23.2% to US$2.93 in early trading and has lost more than half its value so far this year.

Winfrey will donate her WW shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, WW said.

She owned 1.13 million shares worth US$6.34 million as of Jan 1, LSEG data showed.

Winfrey’s donation would help “eliminate any perceived conflict of interest around her taking weight loss medications,” the weight-loss services firm said late yesterday.

The talk show host said last year that she uses prescription medication to manage her weight.

Shares of the New York City-based company have also been hurt due to “exacerbated concerns” around its growth prospects and liquidity, Barclays analyst Stephanie Davis said.

The stock had more than doubled in value last year on hopes for a boost from its acquisition of telehealth platform Sequence, which marked its entry into the lucrative market for prescription obesity drugs, offered by Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO and Eli Lilly LLY.N.

But the company’s 2024 sales forecast of US$830 million to US$860 million – which came in below analyst expectations of US$896.2 million – somewhat dashed those hopes.

WW International has a lower forward price-to-earnings multiple – a common benchmark to value stocks – of 13.55 compared with 17.21 for rival USANA Health USNA.N.