The Virginian-Pilot
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Joseph W. Luter III, chairman and former CEO of Smithfield Foods Inc., has sold 800,000 shares of the company’s stock, worth more than $10.5 million. The sale represented 40 percent of his Smithfield holdings.
Luter sold 800,000 shares Monday and Tuesday at prices of $13.17 and $13.19 each, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. They were worth $10,546,000.
He still owns, directly and indirectly, about 1.27 million shares, worth about $16.8 million. Smithfield’s shares closed Friday at $13.20 each on the New York Stock Exchange, up 12 cents from Thursday.
“Mr. Luter turns 70 years old in less than two weeks,” Smithfield spokeswoman Keira Ullrich said in an e-mail Friday. “Last December, he sold 2 million of his shares to his four children. His sales this week are simply a continuation of a diversification and estate planning strategy he began when he retired as chief executive officer of the company in 2006.”
According to Smithfield’s preliminary proxy statement, released Wednesday, even with the stock sale, Luter remains the second-largest stockholder among company executive officers and directors. Only board member Paul Fribourg controls more, with nearly 12.7 million share. He is president of Continental Grain Corp., which owns the shares.
– Philip Walzer
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