Regeneron’s Billionaire Cofounder Criticized After ‘All Lives Matter’ Graduation Speech

Regeneron’s Billionaire Cofounder Criticized After ‘All Lives Matter’ Graduation Speech

George Yancopoulos, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, right, ... [+] speaks during the Bloomberg Year Ahead Conference in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. Photographer: Alex Flynn/Bloomberg



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George Yancopoulos, the billionaire cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, created a stir over the weekend when he gave a graduation speech at Yorktown High School that touched on the recent murder of George Floyd, and called police "scapegoats“ in larger issues of systemic discrimination. Parents and students of the New York suburb took to social media to complain about Yancopoulos' speech, which was seen as divisive and inappropriate for a high school graduation. 



At the end of his speech to graduates at a drive-in ceremony, Yancopoulos said, "I believe Black Lives matter, though I do not think it should be a crime to say, 'All lives matter.'" He continued to say that while police brutality may be a trendy topic today, the police are "convenient scapegoats“ of a larger systemic problem. Citing medical data that Black women are more likely to die in childbirth than white women, Yancopoulos said, "that's a lot more innocent deaths than at the