Cargill Inc. has named Brian Sikes, 54, as its new CEO, replacing David MacLennan, who will take on a new role as Executive Chair.
Sikes, who became Chief Operating Officer last year after running Cargill’s meat business, will take the top job on Jan. 1 and MacLennan will start his new job this month. He will ensure a “smooth” transition to Sikes, according to the company.
The changes come after MacLennan, who turned the 157-year old agricultural commodities trader into a protein giant, delivered two consecutive years of record profits.
MacLennan is credited with turning Cargill into a meat giant and pivoting the company into high-margin businesses at a time when its major competitors were still struggling to make money from buying and selling grain. His strategy’s success catapulted Cargill into one of the biggest US beef processors.
Sikes has been with Cargill for 31 years and will be the company’s 10th CEO. He has held leadership roles in the US, Canada, and Europe, and was also responsible for growing the company’s global protein and salt business.
He was the trader’s first COO since 2013, a position Cargill does not usually have in its corporate structure. The last person to hold the position was MacLennan himself.
MacLennan joined Cargill in 1991 and held various positions in places, including London, Minneapolis, and Geneva, before being named COO in 2011 and CEO in 2013. He put Cargill on a path to achieving gender parity by 2030, with women now representing 46% of the company’s executive team. He also hired the trader’s first female CFO.
Before Cargill, MacLennan began his career in Chicago, where he was a runner, phone clerk, and risk manager in the futures industry.