Don Jackson will gradually transition his roles and responsibilities to Mr Nogueira through the end of this year. Jackson will remain with the company in an advisory capacity and retain his seat on the board of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation.

Andre Nogueira, in his new role as JBS USA CEO, will have responsibility for all US and Australia operations and will report directly to Wesley Batista, president and CEO of JBS global operations.

Under this new structure, Bill Rupp, in addition to his current role as president and COO of the JBS USA beef business, will assume leadership of the Australia business and report to Mr Nogueira.

"Andre is aprofessional, highly trained and qualified to assume this new function in the company. He has served JBS for several years, understands our culture and has a solid career, which allows him to assume this position. I'm sure Andre will focus on creating value for all our stakeholders," said Wesley Batista.

Mr Nogueira assumes the position of JBS USA CEO with more than 25 years of leadership experience in corporate business in both the U.S. and Brazil. For the past five years, Mr Nogueira has been part of JBS, serving as JBS USA CFO for four years and as CEO of JBS Australia for the past year.

His time at JBS has given Mr Nogueira intimate knowledge of JBS operations and culture. In addition to his executive roles at JBS, Nogueira enjoyed more than 20 years of corporate financial banking experience. Mr Nogueira earned a B.A. in economics from Federal Fluminese University, a Masters in economics from Brasilia University, and an MBA from Funcado Don Cabral.

Mr Rupp, who will be responsible for the operations in Australia, joined JBS USA in 2010 as president and COO of the beef business unit. Prior to joining JBS, Mr Rupp spent more than 20 years at Cargill, where he held a variety of senior-level positions including vice president of beef operations and president of Cargill Beef.

Don Jackson was named president and CEO of JBS USA in 2010. Immediately prior to joining JBS USA, Jackson served as CEO for Pilgrim’s Pride, where he successfully guided the company through bankruptcy, ultimately negotiating the sale of controlling interest to JBS USA. Prior to his time at Pilgrim’s, Mr Jackson enjoyed a distinguished career with Central Soya, Seaboard, ConAgra, and Foster Farms.