Tyson Foods Dismisses Exec for Code of Conduct Breach; Appoints COO

Tyson Foods announced it has promoted Devin Cole, group president of Poultry and International, to be the company’s new chief operating officer (COO), following the departure of Brady Stewart, who had served as group president of Beef, Pork and Prepared Foods, as well as chief supply chain officer. Stewart is departing the company, effective immediately, after Tyson claimed that certain undisclosed actions he’d taken violated the Tyson Foods Code of Conduct.

Cole was promoted to his group president role in February 2025, at which point Stewart also added oversight of the Prepared Foods business to his responsibilities. Now, Cole will oversee all of the company’s business segments — and will continue to report to Donnie King, president and CEO.

With Stewart’s departure, Tyson said that its Supply Chain, Food Safety, Health and Safety, Environmental and Transportation functions will report directly to King. The company also noted it would share additional leadership and organizational updates later this month, prior to the start of its 2026 fiscal year.

Last June, Tyson Foods suspended CFO John R. Tyson after he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Fayetteville, Ark. — and then moved on from Tyson as CFO in August, naming Curt Calaway to the position from his interim status.

Tyson isn’t the only company this week that has had to dismiss an executive for allegedly breaching code of conduct: Two days ago, Nestlé SA dismissed Laurent Freixe from his CEO position, saying Freixe had “an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate which breached Nestlé's Code of Business Conduct.”