Sold Smithfield Foods in 1969, returned in 1975 as president of both Smithfield Foods and Smithfield Packing
Joseph W. Luter III, the visionary who grew Smithfield Foods into a Fortune 500 company, died Aug. 28 2005 at age 86. Chairman of the Board since 1975 and Consultant to the. Company since September 2006; Chairman of the Board. and Chief Executive Officer of the Company from 1975. Luter was born on July 17, 1939, three years after his grandfather and father, Joe Sr. and Jr., had founded a small pork processing plant known as Smithfield Packing Co. After earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Wake Forest, he returned to Smithfield Packing and, after his father’s untimely death in 1962, worked to gain control of the company. He became president of Smithfield Packing at age 26. In 1969, he sold the company to Liberty Equities Corp. and soon after that left the company to pursue other interests, including development of the Bryce Mountain resort. Joe III, as he was known throughout his life, returned in 1975 as president of both Smithfield Foods and Smithfield Packing. Two years after returning to Foods, Luter was elected chairman of the board and named George Hamilton president.
