JBS Returns Control to Batista Family as Heir Named Global CEO

JBS, the world’s biggest meat supplier, will revert to family control as Wesley Batista Filho, aged 34, takes over as global chief executive officer in January. Batista Filho currently heads the company’s United States division and is the grandson of founder José Batista Sobrinho and son of former senior executive Wesley Batista.

The appointment ends an eight‑year period during which Gilberto Tomazoni served as the first non‑family CEO of JBS, a role he assumed in 2018 after a corruption scandal implicated the brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista. Tomazoni will remain with the company as vice‑president of the board.

Batista Filho described the shift as a natural continuation of the family legacy. The transition had been planned for years, according to Tomazoni. JBS shares slipped 6.8% on the announcement, the largest single‑day drop since May when talks resumed after a brief suspension.

Under Batista Filho’s leadership of the US division, he navigated a period of tight cattle supplies caused by slow herd rebuilding in America. Despite that, he will now steer a company expanding globally, with recent agreements to grow operations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The United States remains a strategic focus, particularly after JBS’s recent listing on the New York Stock Exchange, which brought the firm closer to American investors.

The move restores a Batista family member to the helm of JBS for the first time since 2018, reinforcing the dynasty’s influence over a conglomerate that spans meat, energy, mining, finance and consumer goods.