The beneficiaries of almost unfathomable generational wealth run everything everywhere. That’s capitalism. But Arkansas is a small, poor state, so the lucky inheritors of fortunes here have an especially outsized impact — and have for several generations. Here’s a rundown of some of the most prominent powerful people benefiting from family money or fame in Arkansas. Or, to embrace a buzzword, here are our nepo babies (short for nepotism) and what they’ve done for you lately.
The Waltons
The heirs to the Walmart fortune aren’t just the richest people in Arkansas; they’re among the wealthiest in the world. Most of them don’t live in Arkansas much or at all.
Among those who don’t go here anymore, there are a couple you might care about:
Rob Walton, Sam’s eldest son, recently bought the Denver Broncos with a group of investors including his daughter, Carrie Walton Penner, and her husband, Greg Penner, who was named CEO of the Broncos. Rob and Carrie, like others in their family, pour money into propping up charter schools.
Ann Walton Kroenke, daughter of Bud Walton, Walmart co-founder and brother to Sam, is married to Stan Kroenke, real estate billionaire and owner of gobs of sports teams, including the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL and Arsenal of the English Premier League.
In Arkansas:
Jim Walton, Sam’s youngest son, is chairman of Arvest Bank and perhaps the most influential advocate for the sorts of so-called education reform found in Arkansas LEARNS — vouchers, an expansion of charter schools, merit pay. When, in a rare moment of raw honesty, longtime voucher opponent Rep. Bruce Cozart (R-Hot Springs) said, “The rich want vouchers. That’s who [LEARNS] is for,” he was probably mostly talking about Jim Walton.
Alice Walton, Sam’s daughter, is easily the best Walton. She founded Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, instantly making the Ozarks a destination for art lovers the world over. Coming soon, she’s opening the holistic health-focused Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville. It’s scheduled to welcome its first class in 2025.
Tom and Steuart Walton, sons of Jim, have been spending big money to make Northwest Arkansas hip. They’ve paid for oodles of bike trails and invested heavily in making Bentonville the center of mountain bike culture in the U.S. (plus, they’ve poured money into the development of bike trails in state parks throughout Arkansas). They’ve got a holding company that’s invested heavily in good restaurants, and they’re behind the Momentary, the contemporary art space that often hosts concerts, and FORMAT Festival, the annual music and art fest. Steuart, who former Gov. Asa Hutchinson named to lead an economic recovery task force during the coronavirus pandemic, flew a WWII-era fighter plane over the state … to honor frontline workers battling COVID?
The Dillards
William T. Dillard, the late founder of the department store chain, had five children, who all now run the company along with some of their children. There are too many to keep up with and they all keep relatively low profiles. They’ve given you massive returns if you’re a stockholder (up more than 1,500% since April 2020) and those cool parquet floors in the Dillard’s in Park Plaza. They’re also at least partially to blame for the gap in the Arkansas River Trail because they’ve refused to allow the city to build behind their campus on Cantrell Road.
The Tysons
Tyson CEO John H. Tyson — not to be confused with his grandfather and the founder of Tyson Foods, John W. Tyson, or his son, John R. Tyson, the company’s CFO who recently got arrested after he drunkenly fell asleep in a stranger’s home — was something of a Kendall Roy figure in the 1980s when his father, the late Don Tyson, was running the company. John H. had a ponytail, was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, and was largely disregarded by his father. But he recovered, found Jesus and has greatly grown and diversified Tyson (and battled lawsuits over price fixing and over a lack of COVID protections for workers).
The Stephenses
The Stephens patriarchs, Witt and Jackson T. Stephens, were perhaps the most powerful business and political figures in Arkansas in the 20th century. They founded Stephens Inc., long one of the nation’s largest investment banks not based on Wall Street, and had massive natural gas holdings, including Arkla. With Stephens Inc., they handled the initial public offerings of Arkansas’s biggest companies, including Walmart and Tyson. Witt’s children keep a fairly low profile.
Jackson T. “Steve” Stephens Jr., who inherited $40.9 million from his father, was the plaintiff in an unsuccessful 2014 lawsuit to remove an initiated act to raise the state’s minimum wage; voters ultimately approved it. He’s also long been chairman of the anti-tax Club for Growth foundation, backing the likes of U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. In 1970, he and some buddies formed Rayburn, a psych/prog-rock band that recorded for Mega Records, an RCA subsidiary, but never released anything in its heyday. Psych of the South, an Arkansas label, put out some Rayburn demos several years back and members of the band have reunited to continue making music.
Warren Stephens runs Stephens Inc. and has poured money into endeavors that make life better for rich people in or traveling to Arkansas. He restored The Capital Hotel, built the high-end private golf club The Alotian in Roland and bankrolled the development of the private Episcopal Collegiate School. He and his wife have also been major donors to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, though he’s often wielded the influence imperiously. A major donor to Republican politicians, Stephens created a multimedia campaign called “This Is Capitalism,” promoting the widely held belief among the super-rich that market economics make everything in life better. Warren’s son John Stephens and John’s wife, Mary Olive, will soon open an Italian restaurant in the Heights in the former home of Cafe Prego.
The Huckabees
Mike Huckabee, a megachurch pastor and small-time televangelist, won a special election to become Arkansas lieutenant governor after Bill Clinton became president and then-Lt. Gov Jim Guy Tucker became governor. When Tucker got railroaded in the Whitewater case and was forced to resign, Huckabee became governor. He raised taxes and lived in a triple-wide on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion. After he left office, he made several attempts to run for president, became a Donald Trump toady and wrote goofy books. He continues to make bad jokes on Twitter and host conservative TV shows on marginal channels.
Despite career experience limited to working on political campaigns, Huckabee’s only daughter got tapped in 2017 to serve as former President Donald Trump’s press secretary. She used her high profile as liar-in-chief as a springboard to return to Arkansas and win the governorship. So far she’s governed performatively, embracing culture war battles and never missing an opportunity to castigate “the radical left.” She’s clearly angling for higher office.
The Hussmans
Walter Hussman Sr. married into the newspaper business, grew it and, in 1974, bought the Arkansas Democrat and dispatched his 27-year-old son, Walter Hussman Jr., to run the Little Rock paper. Walter Jr. waged a long newspaper war against the Arkansas Gazette, hemorrhaging money, but he ultimately prevailed and started calling his paper the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
He’s long heavily invested in his newsroom while maintaining a retrograde opinion section to which he often contributes unsigned editorials. You may own a ratty, near obsolete iPad thanks to him. Like many others in this group, he’s a major advocate for and financial supporter of school choice policies.
Hussman drew gobs of negative national press recently after he lobbied against famed journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones getting a position at the University of North Carolina journalism school, to which he’s pledged $25 million. UNC ultimately offered Jones the position, but she turned it down, citing in particular Hussman’s involvement in the process.
Hussman has rapidly promoted his daughter, Eliza Gaines, 35, through the family media company. She was briefly the executive editor of the Democrat-Gazette and was named as publisher of WEHCO Media on Jan. 1. She has four kids and admitted in a recent Q&A that the juggle was difficult, but maybe that ensures that a fifth generation of the family will continue in the newspaper business.