Former Smithfield Foods CEO and chairman dies at 86

Former Smithfield Foods Chairman and CEO Joseph Williamson Luter III passed away last week at the age of 86.

According to his obituary, he died peacefully Aug. 28 at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our former chairman and CEO, Joe Luter III,” Smithfield Foods President and CEO Shane Smith said in a statement. “While his passing is a tremendous loss, we celebrate the remarkable life of a great leader and pioneer who did so much to build the company his father and grandfather founded into the industry leader we are today.”

Founded in 1936 by Luter’s father and grandfather, Smithfield Foods is the nation’s largest pork producer. Headquartered in Smithfield, the company provides packaged meats and fresh pork products throughout the U.S. and various countries worldwide. The company says the vast majority of its products are consumed in the U.S. and it employs about 33,000 people nationwide.

Virginia Living reports that Luter’s father, Joseph Luter Jr., died in 1962 when he was a student at Wake Forest University. A few years after that, Luter became company president.

He told Virginia Living that when he took over, the company (then known as Smithfield Packing) was killing 3,000 hogs a day, and when he left in January of 1970, after selling the business in July of 1969, it was killing 5,000. The number of employees also jumped from 800 to 1,400 in that timeframe.

Luter ultimately returned to the company as CEO in 1975 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and led efforts to revitalize and expand the company.

“Over the next 32 years, Joe transformed the company through bold and aggressive expansion and dealmaking into a $13 billion global food company with operations throughout Europe and North America,” his obituary reads. “Smithfield became the world’s largest pork processor and pig producer through his visionary strategies of vertical integration. Under Joe’s leadership, Smithfield revolutionized how meat is raised, processed, and marketed worldwide.”

Luter remained CEO until he retired from the role in 2006 and remained chairman until 2013, when the company was purchased by WH Group (then known as Shuanghui Group).

In 2008, Christopher Newport University established the Joseph W. Luter III School of Business in honor of Luter. The school, which Smithfield Foods helped finance through a $5 million gift, offers a curriculum in business administration with concentrations in accounting, finance, management and marketing.

Luter also funded several projects in his father’s honor, including a dormitory at Wake Forest University and a sports complex in Smithfield.

“Joe Luter III left a lasting legacy on Smithfield Foods and our entire industry,” Smith said. “He was the driving force behind so many critical chapters in our company’s history, leading a decades-long period of revitalization and rapid growth and building on our uniquely American heritage through strategic acquisitions to forge Smithfield into a global food company. He was a true visionary, and we are grateful for the legacy he leaves behind.”

Luter is survived by his wife of 25 years, Karin Fyrwald Luter; his sister, Suzanne Stockman Anderson; his four children and six grandchildren.