Thomas_McLarty

Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty

Chairman, McLarty Associates

As Chairman of McLarty Companies, Vice Chairman of RLJ-McLarty-Landers, and Chairman of McLarty Associates, Thomas F.”Mack” McLarty has a distinguished record of business leadership and public service, with roots in the automotive business that reach back to 1921, when his grandfather opened a Ford dealership in Hope, Arkansas. Today, the McLarty family enterprise is in its fourth generation, building extensive operations at home and in Brazil, Mexico, and China.

Mr. McLarty joined the McLarty Companies in 1969, after graduating with honors from the University of Arkansas. Under his direction, the family’s innovative leasing operation became one of the country’s largest, even as their automotive dealerships expanded throughout the southern United States.

In 1979, the McLarty Companies acquired the assets of one of the nation’s largest school bus manufacturers, Ward Industries, out of bankruptcy and turned the struggling enterprise around. In this same era, the McLarty Companies merged McLarty Leasing with the New York Stock Exchange listed company Leaseway Transportation, and Mr. McLarty became an officer of Leaseway, responsible for the southern region. By 1998, the McLarty Companies was one of the top 50 dealer groups in the United States, with 19 automobile dealership franchises in Arkansas and Texas and annual sales of roughly $750 million. The McLartys merged their business with Asbury Automotive Group of Pennsylvania, and Mr. McLarty became vice chair and a director on the Asbury board, helping successfully take that company public in 2002.

Today, having reestablished the family’s dealership holdings, Mr. McLarty and his sons Franklin and Mark are building RLJ-McLarty-Landers at home and expanding their dealership operations abroad. RLJ-McLarty-Landers has the following franchises: Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, Honda, Nissan, Ford, GM, Toyota, Subaru, Mercedes, and Harley Davidson. The international dealership operations include: the exclusive importation of Jaguar Land Rover in Mexico, Yan Jun Auto Group in China which is the leading BMW dealer group in the Beijing and Dalian regions of China, and Caltabiano McLarty which is the top Toyota and Land Rover dealer in Brazil and boasts the largest BMW motorcycle location in the world. Other franchises for Caltabiano McLarty include: Mercedes Benz, Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, Volkswagen, and Mini Cooper. Yan Jun Auto Group has sold over 14,000 new BMW units this year and holds the largest single point BMW dealership in the world.

A strong believer in public service, Mr. McLarty served more than five years as a member of President Bill Clinton’s cabinet, first as White House Chief of Staff and then as Counselor to the President and Special Envoy for the Americas. During his time in the Clinton Administration, Mr. McLarty was awarded the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal and the highest civilian honors of seven Latin American countries.

Prior to his service in the White House, he was also appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the National Petroleum Council and the National Council on Environmental Quality, and served as a governor on the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board.

Immediately prior to his time in the White House, he spent a decade as Chairman and CEO of Arkla, a Fortune 500 natural gas company. Under his leadership, ARKLA grew into the largest natural gas distributor in the United States and won recognition for management excellence, environmental initiatives and minority enterprise development.

Upon leaving the White House in 1998, Mr. McLarty formed an international strategic advisory firm formed in partnership with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger. He continues that work as president of McLarty Associates, based in Washington DC. Clients of McLarty Associates include: Wal-Mart, UPS, Chevron, Google, RIM, MetLife, GE, Exxon Mobil, Pfizer, & J.P. Morgan Chase.

Mr. McLarty is active on a variety of corporate and nonprofit boards, including Union Pacific and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. In addition, he serves as a Senior International Fellow at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. and Mrs. McLarty currently divide their time between Washington, D.C., Little Rock, Arkansas, and Hope, Arkansas.


Appearances