Tyson Foods suspends company heir and CFO John R. Tyson after drunken arrest

Tyson Foods has suspended the company’s chief financial officer, John R. Tyson, after he was arrested for alleged drunken driving.

Police at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, arrested Tyson, 34, early Thursday on a charge of driving under the influence, police records show. Other charges included reckless driving and illegal turning. He was released the same day on $1,105 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on July 15.

Tyson is the great-grandson of the company’s founder, John W. Tyson, and son of the food giant’s current chairman, John H. Tyson.

“We are aware that John Randal Tyson, chief financial officer of Tyson Foods, was arrested for alleged drunken driving. Tyson Foods has suspended Mr. Tyson from his duties effective immediately and appointed Curt Calaway as interim chief financial officer,” Tyson Foods, based in Springdale, Arkansas, said in a statement.

The incident is the second time in recent years that Tyson, a former investment banker who joined Tyson Foods in 2019, has been arrested. He was previously arrested in 2022 charged with public intoxication and trespassing after he allegedly entered a Fayetteville woman’s home and fell asleep in her bed. The woman did not know who Tyson was and called police, KNWA Fox 24 reported at the time.

Tyson pleaded guilty to both charges and paid fines and court costs. In a company-wide memo, he also apologized and said he was undergoing treatment for alcohol abuse.

Tyson, a member of the fourth generation of the family that controls the $19 billion meat processing company, was named CFO in September 2022. Founded in 1935, Tyson Foods employs 139,000 people and reported 2023 revenue of $52.8 billion.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report