Robert L. Johnson
Chairman of the Board

Robert L. Johnson is the Founder and Chairman of The RLJ Companies, an innovative business network that owns or holds interest in a diverse portfolio of companies in the banking/financial services, real estate, hospitality, professional sports, film production, gaming and automotive industries. In July 2007, Mr. Johnson was named by USA Today as one of the “25 Most Influential Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years.”

Prior to forming The RLJ Companies, Mr. Johnson was Founder and Chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), the nation’s first and leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news, sports and public affairs programming for the African American audience. Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, BET became the first African American owned company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2001, Mr. Johnson sold BET to Viacom for approximately $3 billion and remained the Chief Executive Officer through 2006.

Thomas F. McLarty, III
Vice Chairman

Thomas F. McLarty has a distinguished record of business leadership and public service, including various roles advising three U.S. Presidents: Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. Mr. McLarty worked with President Carter as a member of the Democratic National Committee, was appointed to two commissions by President Bush and served President Clinton in several key positions: Chief of Staff, Counselor to the President and Special Envoy for the Americas, with over five years of service in the President’s Cabinet and on the National Economic Council. Upon leaving the White House in July 1998, Mr. McLarty became President of Kissinger McLarty Associates, an international advisory firm formed in partnership with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

He is also Chairman of McLarty Companies, a fourth-generation family transportation business, including a major automotive retail endeavor — RLJ-McLarty-Landers — a partnership with Robert Johnson and Steve Landers. Additionally, Mr. McLarty serves as Senior Adviser to The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, as Senior Adviser to the law firm Covington & Burling and as Chairman of Randall & Dewey, a leading global energy industry advisory firm.

As White House Chief of Staff, Mr. McLarty helped enact the historic 1993 deficit reduction package, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Family and Medical Leave law and the landmark welfare reform legislation that enabled more than 6.8 million people to move from welfare to work. He also organized the successful 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami, which ultimately led to his appointment as Special Envoy for the Americas in 1997.

As Counselor to the President, Mr. McLarty advised on a broad range of international and domestic issues. He traveled to the Persian Gulf on the President’s behalf to build financial support for the Bosnian peace process, led the U.S. delegation to the inauguration of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and signed the peace accords that brought peace to Guatemala for the first time in three decades. Mr. McLarty planned U.S. participation in the 1998 “Summit of the Americas” in Santiago, and participated in several G-7 and APEC Summits. He also served as White House Coordinator for the Centennial Games in Atlanta, a role for which he was honored with the Olympic Torch from the Atlanta Organizing Committee and the Olympic Shield from the U.S. Olympic Committee — that organization’s highest award.

Born in Hope, Arkansas, in 1946, Mr. McLarty graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas in 1969 and returned to Hope, where he helped build the business his grandfather founded into one of the nation’s largest transportation companies. He was elected to the state legislature at the age of 23, served as Chairman of the State Democratic Party from 1974–1976, and later served as Finance Chair for both David Pryor’s and Bill Clinton’s gubernatorial campaigns.

In 1983, Mr. McLarty became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arkla, a Fortune 500 natural gas company. During his tenure, Arkla grew into the nation’s largest natural gas distributor, with customers in 11 states and significant exploration and pipeline operations. The company was recognized by Forbes and Wall Street Transcript for management excellence, and by other national organizations for environmental initiatives and minority enterprise development. Mr. McLarty was appointed by President Bush to the National Petroleum Council and the National Council on Environmental Quality, and he was a member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board from 1989 through 1992.

Mr. McLarty is a frequent public speaker, and has published numerous articles on U.S. trade and foreign policy. He has served on the boards of many corporate and nonprofit institutions including as a director of Union Pacific and the Acxiom Corporation, and on the boards of the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, the Council of the Americas, the InterAmerican Dialogue, Ford’s Theatre and the Center for the Study of the Presidency. 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. McLarty is the recipient of the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal; the highest civilian honors of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela; and the Center for the Study of the Presidency Distinguished Service Award.

Together with his wife, Donna, he has been honored with the National Conference for Community and Justice Award and the American Natural Gas Association Humanitarian Award/Public Service Award.

Mr. McLarty’s wife, Donna Cochran McLarty, is a longtime advocate for the arts and humanities, and has been a leader in national and international efforts to support women, children and families. She is Vice Chair and Founding Member of the Vital Voices Global Partnership. She serves on the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ International Committee on the Arts, the World Conference on Religion and Peace, the Wesley Theological Seminary and several other nonprofit organizations.

The McLartys divide their time between Little Rock, Hope and Washington, D.C. They have two sons: Mark, who lives and works in Hong Kong; and Franklin, Vice President of the McLarty Companies in Little Rock.

Steve Landers, Sr.
President

Steve Landers currently serves as President of RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, LLC. Immediately after high school, Mr. Landers entered the automotive industry as a salesman.

He went on to open a used car lot in Benton, Arkansas, with his father. After several successful years in business with his father, Mr. Landers had the opportunity to enter new car sales. In 1989, Mr. Landers purchased the Jeep, GMC and Oldsmobile dealerships in Benton. Within two years, Chrysler awarded Mr. Landers the Chrysler and Dodge franchises. Under his management, the stores flourished, and his Chrysler dealership became the world’s largest for several consecutive years, selling over 10,000 vehicles annually and setting the standard all other Chrysler dealers measured their success against. In addition to the significant sales volume, the Chrysler dealership earned the Gold Level Recognition for customer satisfaction from Chrysler each year. In 1995, Mr. Landers sold his dealerships to publicly traded United Auto Group, the second-largest automotive retailer in the United States.

Recognizing his management excellence, Roger Penske of United Auto Group hired Mr. Landers as President of their South Central Region, where he was responsible for all of UAG’s operations in Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi. Mr. Landers oversaw the acquisition of an additional 21 dealerships in his region for UAG. Under his leadership, the South Central Region became UAG’s most profitable, earning in excess of $40 million annually.

In 2003, Mr. Landers left UAG and reentered the independent dealership business, purchasing a Toyota franchise in Little Rock, Arkansas, with his two sons, Steve Landers, Jr. and Scott Landers. In 2004, Mr. Landers formed McLarty-Landers Automotive Group with Mack McLarty and joined the company as President. As President of McLarty-Landers, Mr. Landers oversaw the acquisition of the company’s first two stores — Landers Dodge in Shreveport, Louisiana, and Landers-McLarty Ford/Jeep in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Mr. Landers lives in Little Rock with his wife, Sandy. They are active members of Immanuel Baptist Church and are involved in several charity organizations, including the American Heart Association, Juvenile Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society.

Franklin McLarty
Vice President

Franklin McLarty is Vice President of RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, LLC, a role he has held since 2005. Over the course of his tenure at RLJ-McLarty-Landers, he has supervised acquisitions, divestitures, expansions and openings for dealerships throughout the central United States, while also overseeing the McLarty family dealerships in southwest Arkansas and northeast Texas.

The fourth generation of his family to join the automotive retail business, Mr. McLarty previously worked in the high-end hospitality sector. After launching his supervisory and management career at the five-star Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, he moved on to sales management at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Miami and, in 2001, joined The Biltmore’s parent company, The Seaway Group, where he managed acquisitions, development and divestitures. Upon joining the Tampa-based McKibbon Hotel Group in 2003, Mr. McLarty oversaw the divestiture of more than $135 million in commercial real estate. Since then, Mr. McLarty has maintained ties to the hospitality industry as a member of the Seaway Group’s advisory board.

In 2007, Governor Mike Beebe appointed Mr. McLarty as Chairman of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Drawing on his entrepreneurial experience and his Arkansas roots, Mr. McLarty helps guide the Commission’s efforts in job creation, community building and workforce training.

Mr. McLarty plays an active civic role in his hometown as a board member of City Year Little Rock. A founding member of City Year’s Citizens Team, he supports the nonprofit organization’s efforts in uniting young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service. In addition, he has served on finance and fundraising committees for community organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Carnaval Arkansas Art Center Committee. Most recently, Mr. McLarty joined the Little Rock Film Festival’s board of directors.

Mr. McLarty earned his B.A. from the University of Richmond and an M.B.A. from the University of Miami. He and his wife Gabriela “Gabby” McLarty live in Little Rock with their daughter, Brianna.

Paul Hart
Chief Financial Officer

Prior to joining RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, LLC, Paul Hart served as CFO of Asbury Automotive Group’s Arkansas platform from 2002 to 2004 and presently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of McLarty Companies. Mr. Hart began his finance and accounting career in 1991 with Ernst & Young. From 1991 to 1996, he worked in various divisions of the firm, including audit, corporate finance and practice development for the Dallas and London offices. Subsequently, Mr. Hart was a partner in an accounting and consulting firm based in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, which provided management services to small businesses and specialized in valuation and transaction analysis.

In addition to his duties at RLJ-McLarty-Landers, Mr. Hart is a Director of Brazil American Automotive Group. He is a graduate of Texas Christian University, where he earned his B.A. in business. Mr. Hart graduated magna cum laude with a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas. He serves on the boards of several civic and charitable organizations.