CEO Club Shrinks Again During 2003

In the 18 months since the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal last profiled the chief executives of publicly traded companies in the state:r

• Three companies have dropped from the list;r

• Two companies have been added;r

• Four of the remaining companies have changed CEOs; andr

• Most have enjoyed improved stock prices over the past year.r

But just as most of the 25 companies and most of the 26 faces on the list of CEOs have remained the same, so has the typical description: white, college-educated male in his early 50s earning many times more than the rank-and-file Arkansan. The average age is still 52, and there are still no women in the chief-executive ranks.r

The highest paid of the state’s CEOs is, no surprise, H. Lee Scott, the 54-year-old head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, the largest company on the planet in terms of revenue. His 2002 base salary of $1.14 million is the highest among the Arkansas list, but John H. Tyson, CEO and chairman of Tyson Foods of Springdale, was a close second with an even $1 million.r

When all compensation received in 2002 is counted, those places reverse, with Tyson pulling in $4.8 million and Scott having to get by on $4.7 million. Unlike some other publications, the Business Journal does not include restricted stock awards in its calculation of total compensation. If it did, Scott’s compensation last year would have been just under $18 million.r

The lowest salary on the list is, as usual, Stephen W. Brooks. Brooks, co-CEO with his brother of Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc. of Springdale, takes no salary at all.r

America’s Car-Mart of Bentonville premiered on the list this year. Tilman “Skip” Falgout III, CEO of Car-Mart, had total compensation of $1.14 million in 2002. r

Jake Bushey of Springdale was promoted from president and chief operating officer to president and CEO of Delta Systems Inc. of Rogers in August 2002, succeeding Gerald Hurlow. r