Brazilian Barons Become Five Slaughterhouse Billionaires

When Brazilian beef producer JBS SA tried buying U.S.-based National Beef Packing Co. and Smithfield Beef Group Inc. in 2008, it was met with a tide of opposition.

Attorneys general in 13 U.S. states filed suit against the Sao Paulo-based company, alleging the buyout of National Beef, the fourth-largest packer in the U.S., would threaten competitive pricing by creating an oligopoly led by JBS, Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. A campaigning Hillary Clinton told the South Dakota daily Rapid City Journal that she opposed the Smithfield takeover and would “fight consolidation.”