Tyson CEO gets $2.1 million bonus

Tyson Foods Inc. awarded its chief executive officer a $2.1 million bonus for the latest fiscal year, despite company troubles over the purchase of meatpacker IBP and a federal indictment accusing it of smuggling illegal aliens.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Springdale-based Tyson Foods said it awarded CEO John Tyson a $2.1 million bonus on top of his $650,000 salary for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 29.

Ed Nicholson, a Tyson spokesman, declined comment on the bonus paid to John Tyson saying the decision was explained in the company's proxy statement to shareholders.

Tyson Foods' $3.2 billion acquisition of IBP Inc. in September made Tyson the largest meat producer in the world. The longtime leading poultry producer now controls 28 percent of the U.S. beef market, 25 percent of the chicken market and 18 percent of the pork market.