John Randal Tyson, the former CFO of Tyson Foods and great-grandson of founder John W. Tyson, will not return to his previous role at the chicken company.
Tyson Foods had suspended the heir following his arrest for driving while intoxicated in mid-June. On Thursday the family-owned chicken giant where John Randal’s father John H. Tyson is chairman, announced that Curt Callaway, who had been made interim CFO, will take over on a permanent basis. John Randal Tyson will stay on as an employee at the company on a health-related leave.
In connection with the appointment, Calaway, 50, got a salary hike to $675,000 and he’ll now stand to collect a possible cash bonus this year of $742,500 and another possible $300,000, Tyson Foods told investors. The effective date is June 13, when the company called on the 18-year finance veteran to stand in as interim CFO.
Calaway’s total potential comp of $1.7 million is far less than the value of former CFO John R. Tyson’s pay in 2023, according to a company report. Tyson’s comp was valued at roughly $2.9 million, however Tyson held both the CFO position and the chief sustainability officer role concurrently.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.
John Randal had been in line to become CEO, but he has had a rocky stint at the Springdale, Ark., company since joining in 2019.
In his debut job, Tyson was made chief sustainability officer. Then, in 2022, when he was 32, he became the youngest CFO in the Fortune 500 when he was promoted to that critical position at the $21 billion firm.
His fate at the company took its first turn just six weeks later, when the scion was arrested in a bizarre incident in Fayetteville, Ark., where he lives. In the wee hours of a Sunday morning, Tyson was found asleep in a stranger’s bed, stripped down to nothing but a pair of orange boxer shorts. He was charged with trespassing and public intoxication, for which he eventually pleaded guilty and paid fines.
Tyson’s career at his family’s company survived that incident. He apologized to employees in an email, and acknowledged the event during his first earnings call appearance. But less than two years later, he was posing for his second mug shot in as many years. The officer who made the June traffic stop wrote in the arrest report obtained by Fortune that he saw Tyson misjudge a turn and ride up onto a curb before bouncing back into the road. When he approached the car, he could smell “a strong odor of intoxicants” coming from inside and noticed that Tyson’s eyes were red and watery. Tyson was about 10 minutes away from his home near the outskirts of town. But he was charged with a DWI, making an improper turn, and careless driving.
Tyson explained to the University of Arkansas police officer who pulled him over that night that he had been celebrating with friends and family ahead of his sister’s wedding.
Once Tyson was suspended, it was anyone’s guess whether the company would eventually allow him to return. His father, John H. Tyson, had a history of drug and alcohol use in college and in the early years of his career, as he told the New York Times in 2001. (He has been sober since 1990.) John Randal’s grandfather, Don Tyson, was known for his lavish parties and indulgent lifestyle.
Before his arrests, John Randal was seen as competent and serious about his job. One person who is familiar with John Randal and who asked to remain anonymous said that he believes the young Tyson was put into the job when he wasn’t ready, but that he has the capacity to become a great CEO, once he matures. He also speculates it could still happen.
“At 32, the talk was [John Randal] was too young to be in the role. He obviously screwed up,” this person said. “There's a very good chance that he's going to be on the fringes for five years, and then there'll be—after everyone's forgotten everything—a reintroduction.”
