JBS directors favor retaining Wesley Batista as CEO

The majority of the JBS board of directors do not favor the removal of Wesley Batista as its CEO, the company announced in a material fact on its website.

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Wesley Batista | Photo by Benjamin Ruiz
Wesley Batista | Photo by Benjamin Ruiz

The majority of the JBS board of directors do not favor the removal of Wesley Batista as its CEO, the company announced in a material fact on the JBS website.

The topic of Batista’s removal had been discussed since a corruption scandal in which Batista, and his brother Joesley Batista, admitted to bribing Brazilian politicians, and Batista’s future with the meat and poultry company is expected to be discussed during a JBS extraordinary shareholders meeting on September 1.

The material fact, posted on August 28, stated that the board thought that “there are concrete reasons to conclude that the removal of Mr. Batista, as a consequence of a responsibility action against him, would be premature, and therefore damaging to JBS, particularly to the company’s economic and financial stability and its capacity to commercially thrive. Therefore, the majority of JBS’ Board of Directors are in favor of maintain Mr. Wesley Batista as the company’s CEO.”

Joesley Batista, at the time the scandal became known, was the chairman of the JBS board. He has since stepped down and been replaced by Tarek Farahat.

During the JBS quarterly conference call on August 15, Wesley Batista, rather than addressing his possible ouster from the CEO position, stated that he felt the September 1 meeting would be an “opportunity to show and demonstrate to shareholders all advancements and progress made in this short time frame.”

Notable JBS activities since the scandal became known include:

  • The hiring of former USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Administrator Alfred V. Almanza as the company’s global head of food safety and quality assurance
  • The sale of JBS beef assets in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to Minerva for US$300 million
  • The announcement of JBS’ plans to sell Lakeside Feeders to MCF Holdings for US$39.6 million
  • The search for buyers for JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, Moy Park and Vigor
  • The elimination of 880,000 empty truck miles, reducing 3.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions through a partnership with CHEP
  • Achievement of a net income of BRL309.8 million (US$97 million) for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017.
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