Bayer has not filed bankruptcy for Monsanto over the Roundup lawsuits. As of late June 2026, the company is keeping a Chapter 11 filing for its Monsanto subsidiary in reserve as a contingency while it pursues two other tracks: a proposed $7.25 billion nationwide class settlement and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sharply narrows the claims plaintiffs can bring. CEO Bill Anderson has called the approach a “multi-pronged strategy” in which settlement, litigation, and “potential structural solutions” all remain on the table.1Bayer. Transcript: Bayer Investor and Media Update
Why Bankruptcy Is Even Being Discussed
Bayer bought Monsanto in June 2018 for $63 billion, and the deal brought a wave of lawsuits claiming Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma. As of mid-2025, Monsanto faced roughly 192,000 total glyphosate claims, with about 131,000 already settled or ruled ineligible.2S&P Global Ratings. Bayer AG Outlook Revised to Negative3Cohen Milstein. Bayer Securities Litigation
The financial strain is real. In September 2025, S&P Global Ratings revised Bayer’s outlook from stable to negative while affirming its BBB long-term credit rating, forecasting annual settlement cash outflows of €1 billion to €2 billion for 2025 and 2026.2S&P Global Ratings. Bayer AG Outlook Revised to Negative After announcing the class settlement in February 2026, Bayer raised its total litigation provisions from €7.8 billion to €11.8 billion, with the glyphosate-specific portion climbing from €6.5 billion to €9.6 billion. The company projected negative free cash flow for 2026 and roughly €5 billion in litigation-related payouts for the year, financed through an $8 billion bank loan facility and planned senior bond issuance.4Bayer. Monsanto Announces Roundup Class Settlement Agreement Shares dropped as much as 12% the day the settlement was announced.5Reuters. Bayer Retreats as Investors Sour on Deal to Settle Roundup Litigation
Against that backdrop, isolating the Roundup liability inside a bankruptcy has obvious appeal for Bayer: a Chapter 11 filing would trigger an automatic stay halting the pending lawsuits and could force a global resolution supervised by a bankruptcy judge.
The “Texas Two-Step” Plan
The specific bankruptcy structure Bayer has been studying is known as the Texas Two-Step. Bloomberg Law reported in early 2024 that the company was consulting advisers about a divisive merger under Texas state law that would split Monsanto into two entities, loading one with all the Roundup litigation liabilities and then placing only that entity into Chapter 11.6Bloomberg Law. Bayer Weighs Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Filing Over Roundup The Wall Street Journal reported in mid-2026 that Bayer was still exploring the option as a fallback in case the primary settlement plan fails.7The Wall Street Journal. Bayer Seeks New Roundup Settlement While Exploring Monsanto Bankruptcy
The maneuver has a rough track record in court. In the Johnson & Johnson talc litigation, the Third Circuit ruled that a bankruptcy petition must be filed in “good faith,” and that the sheer size of potential liability does not justify bankruptcy if the company still has a “substantial equity cushion.” The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma narrowed the tool further, holding that bankruptcy courts cannot enter channeling injunctions releasing non-debtor third parties from liability without the consent of affected claimants.8Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog. Mass Torts and Corporate Strategies: What Will the Courts Allow Both rulings target the exact mechanics a Bayer filing would rely on. As of 2024, the strategy was widely considered a “long-shot” given those precedents.6Bloomberg Law. Bayer Weighs Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Filing Over Roundup
The $7.25 Billion Class Settlement Bayer Is Pursuing First
On February 17, 2026, Monsanto announced a proposed nationwide class action settlement designed to resolve both current and future Roundup cancer claims. It covers people in the United States exposed to Roundup or glyphosate-based herbicides before that date who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or who receive such a diagnosis within 16 years of final approval.4Bayer. Monsanto Announces Roundup Class Settlement Agreement
Monsanto would fund up to $7.25 billion in declining capped annual payments over as long as 21 years, run through a professional claims administrator. Compensation is tiered by exposure type, age at diagnosis, and cancer severity. Claimants with significant work-related exposure (more than 80 hours in occupations like farming or landscaping) may receive $60,000 to $165,000; residential exposure claims average $20,000 to $40,000; those with minimal exposure (fewer than 16 hours or 10 lifetime days) would receive $150. A “quick pay” option offers smaller but faster payments.9The Hill. $7.25B Settlement Over Roundup Weed Killers: Who Qualifies and How Much You Could Receive The agreement contains no admission of liability.4Bayer. Monsanto Announces Roundup Class Settlement Agreement
The deal was filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, and received preliminary approval from Judge Timothy Boyer on March 4, 2026. A final approval hearing was set for July 9, 2026, with a June 4, 2026, deadline for class members to opt out or object.10Chemical & Engineering News. Bayer Roundup Glyphosate Cancer Class Action Lawsuit Settlement
The settlement drew sharp opposition. On May 21, 2026, attorney Ashley Keller and lawyers from Frazer PLC filed a challenge arguing the deal “runs roughshod over basic due process rights” and calling the “futures” subclass “unconstitutional and unprecedented” for binding millions of people, including minors and those not yet born, who witnessed someone using Roundup. They described the opt-out procedures as “comically difficult” and “outrageous.”11MinnPost. Bayer’s Proposed Roundup Settlement Violates Constitution, New Legal Filing Claims Critics also objected to $675 million in fees for class counsel.12Investigate Midwest. Bayer’s Proposed Roundup Settlement Violates Constitution, New Legal Filing Claims Judge Vince Chhabria, who oversees the federal Roundup MDL but has no jurisdiction over the Missouri state proceeding, described the settlement in an April 2026 hearing as “filthy,” “mind-boggling,” and “legally problematic.”13SCOTUSblog. State and Federal Courts Jockey for Power in the Roundup Case and Other Mass Public Harms
Objectors tried to move the case to federal court on May 22, 2026. On June 17, U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey ruled they lacked standing to remove and sent the case back to Missouri state court. Objectors filed a notice of appeal the same day, with no emergency stay or further appellate rulings reported as of late June 2026.14Reuters. Federal Judge Sends Bayer’s $7.25 Billion Roundup Settlement Back to Missouri State Court15Mealey’s Litigation Report. Objectors to $7.25B Roundup Deal Appeal Order That Remanded Case to State Court
The Supreme Court Ruling That Changed the Math
On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court handed Bayer a 7-2 win in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell. Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh held that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) expressly preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims that would force a pesticide maker to add a cancer warning to an EPA-approved label. Because the EPA has repeatedly concluded that glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer and has not required a cancer warning, state tort claims demanding one impose a requirement “in addition to or different from” federal law and are barred.16U.S. Supreme Court. Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, No. 24-1068
Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Barrett joined the majority. Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Gorsuch, dissented, writing that the ruling “leaves Durnell without a remedy for the significant harms he has suffered.”17NPR. Supreme Court Monsanto Roundup Decision
The ruling is expected to knock out existing warning-based claims and block future ones, according to Bayer. It does not touch every theory: negligence and design defect claims were not addressed by the opinion and are expected to survive.18The New Lede. Monsanto SCOTUS Pesticides Cancer Case States also retain regulatory tools unrelated to labeling, such as restricting application methods or requiring buffer zones.19Chemical & Engineering News. Bayer Monsanto Glyphosate Roundup Supreme Court
What Would Push Bayer to Actually File
Bayer’s own statements point to the conditions under which the bankruptcy contingency would become active. At a February 2026 investor update, Anderson described the settlement as a “choice for speed and containment over a protracted legal battle” and said it was not the “sole path to containment.” He added: “We’ve always emphasized a multi-pronged approach that includes settlements, that includes the courts, that includes potential structural solutions. All of that remains on the table.”1Bayer. Transcript: Bayer Investor and Media Update
At Bayer’s virtual Annual General Meeting in April 2026, Anderson told shareholders that for the $7.25 billion settlement to hold, claimant acceptance would need to be “very close” to 100 percent. He acknowledged that “the work isn’t complete. Yet,” described the situation as “active” with “important milestones and decisions in the weeks ahead,” and said the company “remain[s] prepared for all scenarios.”20Insurance Journal. Bayer CEO at AGM on Roundup Litigation
The practical trigger points are visible. If the Missouri court denies final approval, if too many claimants opt out and drop participation below the near-universal threshold Anderson described, or if the appeal of the remand order unwinds the settlement’s forum, the bankruptcy option is what’s left. The Supreme Court’s preemption ruling cuts the other way: by narrowing the surviving claims to non-labeling theories, it reduces the liability Bayer would need bankruptcy protection to contain, and weakens the “magnitude of liability” argument that the Third Circuit already said is not enough to justify a Texas Two-Step filing. Whether that combination lets Bayer close the Monsanto chapter without ever going to bankruptcy court is the question the next several months are set to answer.