Whole Foods: Activist Investors "Greedy Bastards"

(RTTNews) - Whole Foods Market Inc. Chief Executive John Mackey has called activist investor Jana Partners as "greedy bastards" referring to the investment firm's interest in forcing a sale of the grocer.

"We need to get better, and we're doing that," Mackey said in an interview with Texas Monthly. "But these guys just want to sell us, because they think they can make 40 or 50 percent in a short period of time."

Activist investor group Jana Partners, which owns 9% of Whole Foods Market, has been pushing the company to overhaul its operations as well as seek buyers for the company.

Whole Foods recently replaced most of its board of directors in order to block the efforts of investors to push for the sale of the company.

"Yes, we need to evolve. We need to get better, and we're doing that," he said.

"They're greedy bastards, and they're putting a bunch of propaganda out there, trying to destroy my reputation and the reputation of Whole Foods, because it's in their self-interest to do so," he told Texas Monthly.