Bayer to Make $10.5 Billion Push to Settle Roundup Cases

Why It Matters

The settlement could cap Bayer's exposure, restore investor confidence, and reshape the agro‑chemical liability landscape.

Key Takeaways

• Bayer proposes $7.5B class-action settlement
• Additional $3B to resolve existing U.S. cases
• Total settlement effort totals $10.5B
• Over 67,000 glyphosate lawsuits pending
• CEO weighing complete glyphosate exit

Pulse Analysis

Roundup litigation has haunted Bayer since its $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto, turning the herbicide into a financial time bomb. The company has already disbursed over $10 billion in verdicts and settlements, and the pending 67,000 claims represent a lingering risk that could erode market value. By bundling a $7.5 billion class‑action deal with $3 billion for current cases, Bayer aims to create a definitive closure window, limiting future exposure while signaling a willingness to negotiate rather than continue costly courtroom battles.

From a financial perspective, the $10.5 billion outlay is a strategic hedge. It allows Bayer to allocate capital more predictably, potentially stabilizing its share price that has been volatile amid litigation headlines. The move also gives the board breathing room to assess the long‑term viability of glyphosate, especially as CEO Bill Anderson weighs a complete product phase‑out. An exit could free resources for greener product pipelines, but it also risks ceding market share to competitors still selling glyphosate‑based solutions.

Industry‑wide, Bayer’s settlement could set a benchmark for agro‑chemical liability, prompting other firms to pre‑emptively address similar claims. Regulators are watching closely, with the FDA’s non‑carcinogenic stance on glyphosate under renewed scrutiny. Should Bayer curtail or abandon glyphosate, the market may shift toward alternative weed‑control technologies, accelerating innovation in biotech and low‑toxicity herbicides. The settlement thus not only resolves a corporate crisis but also reshapes the competitive dynamics of the global crop‑protection sector.

Bayer to Make $10.5 Billion Push to Settle Roundup Cases

By Jef Feeley and Sonja Wind · February 17, 2026

Bayer AG is preparing to announce a $10.5 billion settlement push to resolve current and future cancer lawsuits over its top‑selling Roundup weedkiller, according to people familiar with the plan.

The German conglomerate is set to propose a $7.5 billion class‑action settlement through cases filed in state court in Missouri designed to resolve Roundup suits that already have been filed and potential claims that could be filed over a 20‑year period, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the deal.

As part of the effort, Bayer is also poised to announce $3 billion in settlements of existing U.S. cases in which former Roundup users blame the herbicide for causing their non‑Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the people said.

Roundup litigation has plagued the German conglomerate since it bought Monsanto for $66 billion and inherited a string of suits that have cast a lingering cloud over its shares. The company already has paid more than $10 billion in verdicts and settlements over the herbicide and its active ingredient, glyphosate.

After years of fighting Roundup cases in the U.S., Bayer still faces about 67,000 claims from plaintiffs who allege that long‑term exposure to glyphosate caused their cancer. Bayer officials have insisted the weedkiller is safe and point to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s finding the herbicide isn’t a carcinogen.

Bayer is making the move after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed last month to hear its appeal of a $1.25 million Missouri jury verdict against the company’s Monsanto unit over Roundup on the grounds some of the claims in the 2023 case were preempted by federal law.

The litigation has cast such a pall over Bayer that Chief Executive Officer Bill Anderson has said he’s weighing whether to stop making glyphosate altogether.

Bayer officials in the U.S. didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment on the settlement effort Tuesday.

Photo: Weeds are sprayed with a bottle of Roundup brand weedkiller. Photo credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

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