Tyson Foods has suspended its chief financial officer, John R. Tyson, after he was arrested in Fayetteville early Thursday morning on charges of driving while intoxicated — his second alcohol-related offense within the past two years.
Tyson, 34, is the fourth-generation scion of the family that made Tyson Foods into the meatpacking empire it is today. His father, John H. Tyson, is the Springdale-based corporation’s chairman. The business was founded in the 1930s by John W. Tyson (John R.’s great-grandfather) then grew into one of the largest food companies in the country under his son, Don Tyson.
John R. Tyson, who previously worked in investment banking and private equity at J.P. Morgan, joined the family company in 2019 and was elevated to CFO in 2022. In November 2022, he was charged with public intoxication and criminal trespass after a woman in Fayetteville returned home to find Tyson — a stranger to her — asleep in her bed. (He apparently had walked through an unlocked front door.)
Tyson got off with an apology in 2022, but this time around he wasn’t so lucky. Tyson Foods announced his suspension Thursday, and the AP reports Curt Calaway, a senior vice president at the company, was named interim CFO in his absence.
Tyson is scheduled to appear in district court in Fayetteville on July 15. The New York Times has more details on the most recent arrest report.