050403 Head of Meatpacker Swift & Co. Resigns

Greeley, CO - John Simons, the only president and chief executive officer that meatpacker Swift & Co. has ever had, has resigned.

Simons, 44, left for personal reasons, company spokesman Jim Herlihy said Friday. In a written statement released Thursday, Simons said only that he was proud of the company's accomplishments during his tenure.

Simons joined ConAgra Beef Co. as president in 1999, three years before the company was purchased by Swift. Under his watch, Swift went through a union vote at the Greeley packing plant and survived mad cow disease scares that closed U.S. beef exports to Japan and other countries and limited availability of Canadian cattle.

Despite that, the company announced positive financial numbers earlier this week. The company has more than 20,000 employees and reported sales of almost $9.9 billion in 2004.

"John has provided strong leadership to Swift & Co. and has seen it through dramatic changes," said George Gillett Jr., chairman of the board of directors. "Under his direction, Swift has grown and progressed into a much stronger organization during his tenure as CEO."

John Muse, a member of the Swift board of directors and chairman of the board of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc., the majority owner of Swift, said Simons' guidance was critical after the company separated from ConAgra in 2002.

"Largely because of his efforts, Swift today is a company in a very solid financial condition and with a skilled and successful management team," Muse said.

Greeley Mayor Tom Selders said the announcement was a shock. He said he visited with Simons about a month ago.

"He said then that CEOs don't last long and at the time, I didn't pay too much attention. But maybe he was trying to tell me something," Selders said.

Dennis Henley, president of Swift's North American Red Meat division, and Danny Herron, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will serve as co-CEOs on an interim basis while a search is conducted for Simons' replacement.

Swift is the nation's third-largest beef and pork processor. When Swift's Australian operations are included, the company is the second-largest beef and pork producer in the world, Herlihy said.

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