The board of Tyson Foods has begun reviewing the behavior of the company’s new chief financial officer, who was accused of public drunkenness and trespassing after a woman was found asleep in her bed this month.
John Randal Tyson’s arrest in Arkansas comes weeks after his promotion to chief financial officer raised concerns among analysts and investors about the depth of his experience. He is the 32-year-old son of Tyson chairman John H Tyson and grandson of the founder of the American meat processing company.
Tyson Foods is the largest meatpacking company in the United States, with plants capable of slaughtering tens of millions of chickens and hundreds of thousands of hogs and cattle per week. Although publicly listed, it is managed by the company Tyson family by controlling shares. Earlier, he called the arrest a “personal matter”.
Chief Executive Donnie King announced the board review on Monday during an investor call to discuss Tyson’s quarterly results.
“The company takes this issue seriously,” I said. “Our independent board of directors is overseeing a thorough review of this matter, and I am confident in that independent process.”
The review will be conducted by the board’s governance committee, which is comprised of independent directors from the family. Asked at a press conference about the scope of the investigation and whether the committee has brought in outside attorneys, King declined to elaborate.
Tyson was arrested on the morning of November 6. The police report said they received a call from a woman who “returned to her home and found an unknown and unwanted male asleep in her bedroom.” The officers who identified him by finding his identity card on the floor among his clothes had difficulty waking him up and were in a drunken state.
“I am ashamed and want to let you know that I take full responsibility for my actions,” Tyson said on Monday’s earnings call. quarterly results. “I apologize to our employees as well as to our investors. This event did not align with my personal values ​​as well as our company values. I’m committed to making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Shortly after receiving his MBA in 2019, Tyson began his career in finance, including at JPMorgan Chase as a senior sustainability officer. He was promoted in September and the current CFO, Stewart Glendinning, moved to run the prepared foods business.
Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow said in an earnings call that the company is putting executives with brand management experience, typically responsible for prepared foods, and “people with more than 20 years of experience in finance as CFOs.” The personnel change did the opposite.”
King defended the chair’s son’s suitability for the role.
“John Randall has experience outside of Tyson, having risen through the ranks in banking and venture capital, and for the past four years has led M&A strategy, ventures and other areas of the company at Tyson — and remember, he’s been involved in this business his entire life. “.
Tyson Foods’ revenues for the year just ended rose 13 percent to $53.3 billion, but net income rose just 6 percent to $3.3 billion. The results showed the impact of inflation on the business, rising costs and customers shying away from the most expensive cuts of beef, but the company also forecast sales in the new fiscal year would beat Wall Street expectations.
Additional reporting by Peter Wells in New York
