as nyse tsn s & p 500 component industry food processing founded 1935 headquarters springdale arkansas u.s. key people donnie smith ceo products meat revenue us 41.373 billion 2015 1 us 37.580 billion 2014 1 operating income us 2.169 billion 2015 1 us 1.430 billion 2014 1 net income us 1.220 billion 2015 1 us 864.0 million 2014 1 total assets us 23.004 billion 2015 1 us 23.956 billion 2014 1 total equity us 9.706 billion 2015 1 us 8.904 billion 2014 1 number of employees 113 000 1 subsidiaries hillshire brands website tyson.com tyson foods inc. nyse tsn is an american multinational corporation based in springdale arkansas that operates in the food industry . the company is the world s largest processor and marketer of chicken beef and pork and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of the united states . together with its subsidiaries it operates major food brands including jimmy dean hillshire farm sara lee ball park wright aidells and state fair . 2 with 2011 sales of us 32 billion tyson foods is the second largest food production company in the fortune 500 the second largest meat producer in the world and according to forbes one of the 100 largest companies in the united states . citation needed contents 1 profile 1.1 acquisitions 1.2 tyson renewable energy 1.3 corporate charity 1.4 religious activities 2 corporate governance 2.1 board of directors 2.2 ceos 3 controversies 3.1 environmental record 3.2 employment of undocumented immigrants 3.3 price manipulation 3.4 use of slaughtering methods 3.5 undisclosed use of antibiotics 3.6 abuse of employees 3.7 abuse of animals 4 see also 5 references 6 external links profile edit the company was established by john w. tyson in 1935 and as of 2014 employs 115 000 people who work at more than 300 facilities 90 of which are in the us . 3 as of 2014 tyson had about 97 000 employees in 27 states ; locations are concentrated in the midwest with 16 locations in arkansas 11 in texas 9 in iowa and the remainder of the mostly eastern us with less than 3 4 locations . 3 tyson also works with 6 729 independent contract chicken growers . citation needed it is one of the largest u.s. marketers of value added chicken beef and pork to retail grocers broad line foodservice distributors and national fast food and full service restaurant chains ; fresh beef and pork ; frozen and fully cooked chicken beef and pork products ; case ready beef and pork ; supermarket deli chicken products ; meat toppings for the pizza industry and retail frozen pizza ; club store chicken beef and pork ; ground beef and flour tortillas . it supplies all yum brands chains that use chicken including kfc and taco bell as well as mcdonald s burger king wendy s wal mart kroger iga beef o brady s small restaurant businesses and prisons . citation needed the company makes a wide variety of animal based and prepared products at its 123 food processing plants . it produces many different products including buffalo wings boneless buffalo wings chicken nuggets and tenders . every week its 54 chicken plants 13 beef plants and six pork plants slaughter and package 42.5 million chickens 170 938 cattle and 347 891 pigs . their largest meat packing facility is their beef production plant in dakota city nebraska . other plants include feed mills hatcheries farms and tanneries . citation needed acquisitions edit in 2001 tyson foods acquired ibp inc. the largest beef packer and number two pork processor in the u.s. for us 3.2 billion in cash and stock . tyson has also acquired such companies as hudson foods company garrett poultry washington creamery franz foods prospect farms krispy kitchens ocoma foods cassady broiler vantress pedigree wilson foods honeybear foods mexican original valmac industries heritage valley lane processing cobb vantress holly farms wright brand foods inc. and don julio foods . it also acquired along with its purchase of ibp the naming rights to an event center in sioux city iowa . on 29 may 2014 the company announced a 6.13 billion cash offer to acquire all the shares in hillshire brands two days after a 6.4 billion cash and shares bid for hillshire by pilgrim s corp. in june 2014 tyson won the bidding war against pilgrim s pride agreeing to buy the maker of jimmy dean sausage and ball park hot dogs for 8.5 billion . 4 on july 28 2014 the company said it would sell its mexican and brazilian poultry businesses to jbs s.a. for 575 million and use the proceeds to pay down debt from its pending 7.7 billion purchase of hillshire brands co. 5 tyson renewable energy edit tyson s processing plants are left with a vast supply of animal fats . in late 2006 the company created a business unit called tyson renewable energy to examine ways to commercialize use of this leftover material by converting it into biofuels . 6 the unit is also examining the potential use of poultry litter to generate energy and other products . 7 on april 16 2007 tyson announced a joint venture with conocophillips to produce roughly 175 million gallons of biodiesel a year enough to run tyson foods truck fleet for 3.5 years . 8 corporate charity edit since 2000 tyson foods has given more than 78 million pounds of its products to hunger and disaster relief in the united states altogether enough protein to have served one meal to every american citizen . 9 tyson has donated millions of dollars in cash to help non profit organizations across the country . for these efforts forbes named tyson foods the second most proportionally generous company for its donations in 2007 totaling 1.6 percent 8 million of its annual operating income . 10 tyson initiated the know hunger campaign in early 2011 to raise awareness of hunger in the united states . 9 after the joplin tornado of 2011 tyson sent 77 000 pounds of food to the city . 11 it also sent 100 000 pounds of food to the communities along the gulf of mexico after the oil spill . 12 religious activities edit current chairman john tyson is a practicing interfaith christian . in addition to placing 128 part time chaplains including both protestant and catholic christians and muslim imams in 78 tyson plants 13 in 2006 the company invited their customers to download a prayer book containing prayers from many faiths including christianity judaism islam and american indian spirituality from the company s website to read during mealtime . 14 15 corporate governance edit board of directors edit john h. tyson 16 gaurdie e. banister jr 16 mike beebe 16 mikel a. durham 16 kevin m. mcnamara 16 brad t. sauer 16 donnie smith 16 robert c. thurber 16 barbara a. tyson 16 ceos edit richard l. bond had been ceo of the company until january 7 2009 when he stepped down and his position filled by temporary replacement leland tollett . the current ceo is donnie smith . 17 controversies edit world headquarters of tyson foods at 2200 don tyson pkwy springdale arkansas environmental record edit during the past decade tyson has been involved in several lawsuits related to air and water pollution . in june 2003 the company admitted to illegally dumping untreated wastewater from its poultry processing plant near sedalia missouri pleading guilty to 20 felony violations of the federal clean water act . as part of the plea agreement the company agreed to pay 7.5 million in fines hire an outside consultant to perform an environmental audit and institute an enhanced environmental management system at the sedalia plant . at the same time tyson also settled a case filed by the missouri attorney general s office related to the same illegal dumping . citation needed the united states environmental protection agency began the investigation into the discharges in 1997 and federal officials served two criminal search warrants at the plant in 1999 . according to epa and u.s. department of justice officials tyson continued to illegally dump wastewater after the search warrants were executed prompting an epa senior trial attorney to remark that having done this work for nearly 20 years i don t recall any case where violations continued after the execution of two search warrants . that s stunning . under the federal and state plea agreements tyson agreed to pay 5.5 million to the federal government 1 million to the pettis county school fund and 1 million to the missouri natural resources protection fund to help remedy the damage . 18 in 2002 three residents of western kentucky together with the sierra club filed a lawsuit concerning the discharge of dangerous quantities of ammonia from tyson s western kentucky factories . tyson settled the suit in january 2005 agreeing to spend 500 000 to mitigate and monitor the ammonia levels . 19 in 2004 tyson was one of six poultry companies to pay a 7.3 million settlement fee to the city of tulsa oklahoma to settle charges that the use of chicken waste as fertilizer had created phosphorus pollution in tulsa s main drinking water sources . 20 employment of undocumented immigrants edit in 2001 tyson was charged with conspiracy to smuggle undocumented workers to work on its production lines . tyson plant managers arranged for delivery of illegal workers with undercover immigration officials . prosecutors alleged that the conspiracy to import workers dates back to 1994 when plant managers began to find it difficult to fill positions with cheap legal help . of the six managers who were indicted two accepted plea bargain deals and one committed suicide one month after being charged . in march 2003 a federal jury acquitted tyson of having knowingly hired illegal immigrants . 21 22 in may 2006 tyson suspended operations at nine plants during a nationwide day of immigration demonstrations citing expected lack of workers . 23 in october 2006 a federal judge granted class action status to a lawsuit brought by tyson employees who allege that tyson s practice of hiring illegal immigrants depresses wages 10 30 % . the suit further contends that the company violated federal racketeering laws by conspiring with national council of la raza and league of united latin american countries not to question the employment applications of anyone with a hispanic surname . 24 25 26 price manipulation edit in 2004 a federal jury found that tyson fresh meats had used captive supply agreements to artificially lower fed cattle prices in violation of the packers and stockyards act . damages were found to be 1.28 billion . a u.s. court of appeals voided the verdict because it determined tyson had a legitimate business justification to artificially lower cattle prices . 27 use of slaughtering methods edit from december 2004 through february 2005 an undercover investigator for people for the ethical treatment of animals claimed to have worked on the slaughter line of a tyson foods chicken processing plant in heflin alabama . using a hidden camera he allegedly documented the treatment of the more than 100 000 chickens killed every day in the plant . peta alleges that workers were instructed to rip the heads off of birds who missed the throat cutting machines . he claims he saw birds scalded alive in the feather removal tank and he said that managers said that it was acceptable to scald 40 birds alive per shift . the investigator claims plant employees were also seen throwing around dead birds just for fun . peta has asked tyson to implement controlled atmosphere killing cak . for this reason peta is boycotting businesses that use tyson as a supplier such as kfc and distribution channels such as sunset strips . the video taken by the investigator of the killings was posted on youtube . 28 in 2006 tyson completed a study to determine