The world’s largest meat packer, JBS, has appointed Wesley Batista Filho as its next global CEO, effective January.
The return of a Batista family member to the firm’s top operating role comes as part of a planned leadership transition, with incumbent CEO Gilberto Tomazoni appointed vice chairman of the board and senior advisor in turn.
Batista Filho, whose father and uncle control JBS’ parent holding company J&F, has been with the business for 15 years. He has held various leadership roles across its global operations, including CEO of JBS Brazil, president of Seara Foods and, since 2023, CEO of JBS USA.
But the 34-year-old’s promotion comes at a difficult time for the business. While it delivered record net revenue of $23,9bn, JBS posted a $103m net loss for the April to June quarter.
Batista Filho struck a positive tone, however, saying he was “honoured to take on this responsibility and build on the extraordinary work accomplished by Tomazoni”.
“Our priorities remain clear: supporting our team members, serving our customers and producer partners, operating with excellence and creating long-term value for our shareholders,” he added. “I look forward to working with our teams around the world as we continue building an even stronger JBS.”
Tomazoni said Batista Filho had a “track record of success at JBS and knows our business deeply”.
“He started at the ground level of operations, going on to lead JBS Brazil and Seara to excellent results,” he said. “Over the past three years, he has led JBS in the United States, where we generate more than half of our revenue, building a stronger, more competitive business and delivering important strategic advances across our operations.”
Following the announcement, the firm’s shares dropped 5.8% before falling an additional 2% in extended market trading following the release of JBS’ earnings, according to Reuters.
Environmental group Greenpeace UK pointed to abandoned environmental pledges and years of corruption scandals.
“The Batistas evidently feel confident enough to drop the façade of respectability the company adopted to rehabilitate its image and attract the foreign capital needed to fund its aggressive global expansion,” said Greenpeace UK global campaigner Daniela Montalto.
“With the company committing billions to expanding into Mexico, Nigeria and now Indonesia, the move deepens concerns that a business model linked to spiralling emissions, environmental destruction and human rights violations will now be unleashed at a global scale.”
She called for the company’s expansion to be stopped, pointing to litigation Greenpeace Netherlands had taken steps toward that would challenge the business’s “unfettered growth”.
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