Tyson Foods names chief executive officer

  • 3 August 2020
Dean Banks will succeed Noel White, effective October 2020
Dean Banks portrait photo
Dean Banks takes on the chief executive role at Tyson Foods

Protein giant Tyson Foods has announced that Dean Banks will succeed Noel White as chief executive while maintaining the role of president, effective 3 October. White, who led Tyson through a period of unprecedented volatility and uncertainty when he assumed the chief executive role in 2018, will remain with Tyson in a new role as executive vice-chairman of the board.

Tyson said that Banks’ expanded role is part of the board’s deliberate, long-term succession planning.

“The board and I are truly excited about the breadth and depth of capabilities of Dean and the entire executive leadership team, and we look forward to the energy and vision they will bring in leading Tyson Foods into the future,” said John Tyson, chairman of the board.

“It’s clear to the board that Dean’s impressive background in entrepreneurship, technology, and the healthcare industry make him ideally suited to lead Tyson in its efforts to integrate advanced technologies into our operations and further our focus on team member health and safety,” he added.

Since joining Tyson Foods as a director in 2017 and his appointment as president in 2019, Banks has worked closely with Tyson’s leadership to develop a greater understanding of the business and strategic vision for future growth.

“I want to offer my sincere thanks to the more than 140,000 team members who have given me a warm welcome over the past three years,” said Banks. “I’ve had the opportunity to get to know many of them, and their integrity, passion and commitment to feeding the world is a critical part of why I’m here. I am honoured to lead Tyson Foods as its next CEO, and look forward to working with our company’s leadership in executing our strategy to capitalise on opportunities for innovation across the protein spectrum.”

Prior to joining Tyson Foods, Banks was a project lead at X (formerly Google [x]) – an Alphabet Inc. company – where he remains an advisor.

Previously, he was managing partner of Seed Ventures, a group investing in and developing early-stage healthcare technologies.