"JBS is not run, if you will, for the sheer benefit of the family, " he says.
He took on the role of global chief executive of JBS while Joesley is now chairman.
In 2005 JBS bought Swift Armour S.A., Argentina's largest bovine meat producer and exporter.
Brazilian companies in other industries are watching how JBS gets on and plotting similar moves themselves.
ECONOMIST: A Brazilian livestock firm has grown to prize-winning size
Few Americans have heard of JBS, yet it is responsible for 22% of the U.S. beef supply.
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Investors got queasy: JBS' stock, traded in Brazil's Novo Mercado, dropped by 30% in the last year.
In 1996 Batista brought on Jeremiah O'Callaghan, now JBS' investor-relations director, with the charge of taking JBS global.
Even now JBS wouldn't necessarily pass on a new acquisition, should the "right opportunity" present itself, says Batista.
The loans to JBS and Marfrig were commercial decisions, made by the bank's commercial arm, at commercial rates.
Others are private firms, like Gerdau, a steelmaker, or JBS, soon to be the world's biggest meat producer.
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Being a diversified global protein producer has allowed JBS to navigate the market in a way few others can.
But so long as Petrobras, Vale (a mining giant) and JBS get subsidised credit from BNDES, why should they?
Earlier this year, when rumors circulated that JBS was bidding for Sara Lee, analysts questioned how JBS would finance the deal.
Part of the resistance to JBS in America has come from the distinctively Brazilian way in which the firm is financed.
ECONOMIST: A Brazilian livestock firm has grown to prize-winning size
Although Moody's has had a positive outlook on JBS since 2009, the company's debt-constrained cash flow has kept its rating at B1.
Others may go to the beef companies that are trying to diversify, mainly the publicly traded majors like Marfrig and JBS Friboi.
One way around the public-relations problem this creates is to buy struggling companies like Pilgrim's Pride, which JBS is rescuing from bankruptcy.
ECONOMIST: A Brazilian livestock firm has grown to prize-winning size
Schypke, a German subcontractor of one of its suppliers, JBS Toledo N.
Here meaning running family-controlled JBS S.A., the world's largest meat producer, ranked 766 in The Global 2000 list of the world's biggest companies.
In the last four years JBS has participated in 13 transactions, including the acquisition of U.S. grocery-store staples Swift, Smithfield Beef and Pilgrim's Pride.
For JBS Swift's problem was clearly a question of poor management.
Swift presented JBS with the perfect opportunity, says Batista: It was the worst-performing company in the U.S. beef market while other companies were performing relatively well.
While Batista focused on operations as chief executive of JBS USA (the company's American subsidiary), Joesley stayed in Brazil as JBS' chief executive, focused on finance.
The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund lobbied against JBS before the antitrust committee of America's Senate, warning of price-gouging of farmers and anti-competitive behaviour, and got a sympathetic hearing.
ECONOMIST: A Brazilian livestock firm has grown to prize-winning size
Jackson became head of JBS USA, responsible for its integration.
Don Jackson, who was running Pilgrim's Pride throughout the reorganization process, says although JBS has been part of the company's corporate reorganization, it did not interfere in chicken operations.
Other meat producers, including JBS' main rival, Tyson Foods, are also dealing with income woes, mainly because of spikes in corn prices that increased the costs of raising cattle.
To help balance its books, JBS plans to transfer some of the debt it holds in its Brazilian subsidiary to the U.S. division, creating a tax benefit for the company.
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