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The article titled “Despite A History Of Bribery And Corruption Among Top Shareholders, The World’s Largest Meatpacker Prepares To Go Public” written by Chole Sorvino and published by Forbes on May 14, 2025, examines the timing of JBS being allowed to publicly list their company on the New York Stock Exchange. After years of corruption, insider trading, and bribery charges in Brazil, and accusations of foreign corruption, violations of child labor laws, and wage manipulation in the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has denied granting JBS the opportunity to offer shares of their company in the U.S. However, just two days after it was revealed that a U.S. based subsidiary of JBS, Pilgrim’s Pride, donated $5 million to Trump’s Inaugural Committee, the SEC granted their public listing.

The timeline of these events and the years of previous criminal history of JBS and its largest shareholders raise questions of the motivations behind the SEC’s approval. Brett Kappel spoke on the likelihood the Department of Justice choosing to investigate claims of a quid pro quo between JBS and the Trump administration. Kappel stated that “…it’s difficult to prove a quid pro quo in court…and it’s unlikely a prosecutor would even take the case.” Kappel goes on to state that “If there were a prosecution, the Justice Department would have to show that there was an agreement that government officials would do certain things in exchange for the contribution.” Additionally, “the Justice Department could show through circumstantial evidence that the two things were linked. In our judicial system we trust juries to use their common sense to make those decisions.”