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 interests in a diverse portfolio of companies in the banking, private equity, real estate, hospitality, professional sports, film production, gaming and automobile dealership industries. In July 2007, Johnson was named by USA Today as one of the 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years.

Core assets of The RLJ Companies include: RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Equity Partners, RLJ Credit Opportunity Fund, RLJ Acquisition, RLJ Financial, RLJ Insurance Services, RolloverSystems, RLJ Western Asset Management, Bobcats Sports & Entertainment, Caribbean CAGE, Our Stories Films, and The RLJ Kendeja Resort & Villas.

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.

Currently, Mr. Johnson serves on the following boards: KB Home, Lowe’s Companies, Strayer Education, NBA Board of Governors, Deutsche Bank Advisory Committee, The Business Council, and Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Thomas F. McLarty, III

Vice Chairman

RLJ-McLarty-Landers vice chairman 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 bought the assets of one of the nation’s largest school bus manufacturers, Ward Industries, 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, including as the exclusive importer of Jaguar Land Rover in Mexico, the leading BMW dealer group in the Beijing and Dalian regions of China, and the top Toyota dealer in Brazil.

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. 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.

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. Previously, he spent a decade as Chairman and CEO of Arkla, a Fortune 500 natural gas company. Under his leadership, ARKLA grew into one of the largest natural gas distributors in the United States and won recognition for management excellence, environmental initiatives and minority enterprise development.

Steve Landers, Sr.

President

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

He went on to open a used car lot in Benton, Arkansas, with his father. After sev eral 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 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.

Lisa Pickrum

Executive Vice President

Lisa W. Pickrum is chief operating officer of The RLJ Companies, a diversified holding company with portfolio companies in the financial services, asset management, real estate, hospitality, professional sports, film production, and gaming industries. As COO, Ms. Pickrum is responsible for managing The RLJ Companies portfolio, including strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, business strategy, operations and finance.

With significant experience in structuring and negotiating private equity deals and mergers and acquisitions, Ms. Pickrum was a key member of the team that led the formation of RLJ McLarty Landers Automotive and Harley-Davidson dealerships, now the largest minority automotive dealership in the U.S. with more than $600 million in annual revenues. RLJ McLarty has successfully acquired $35 million of additional dealerships since inception. Ms. Pickrum played a key role in the creation of RLJ Equity Partners, LLC, a private equity fund formed in association with The Carlyle Group. Ms. Pickrum serves as key RLJ fundraiser and Treasury Department liaison for RLJ Western Asset Management’s $610 million PPIP fund. In 2008, Ms. Pickrum directed an international team that developed and currently manages RLJ Kendeja Resort and Villas, a 78-room villa style luxury hotel in Liberia, West Africa, which opened in June, 2009 and was the first new hospitality construction in Liberia in 25 years.

Prior to joining The RLJ Companies, Ms. Pickrum was a Principal at Katalyst Venture Partners, a private equity firm that invested in start-up technology companies in the media and communications industries from 1999 to 2003. Ms. Pickrum conducted deal sourcing, negotiations and closings, as well as served as interim management in several early stage ventures. From 1998 to 1999, Ms. Pickrum worked as a senior consultant for Accenture, a global management consulting company in the company’s communications and technology strategic services practice where she assisted with development of new business architecture based on opportunities that internet technologies and convergence enabled for telecommunications providers.

Ms. Pickrum earned her bachelor's degree from Vassar College and her law degree from Stanford Law School. She earned her master’s degree in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2010, Ms. Pickrum was named by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “75 Most Powerful Women in Business” and has previously been recognized by the publication in their “Most Powerful Players under 40” in December 2007 and “Top 50 Women of Power in Business” in February 2006. In 2010 Ms. Pickrum was also featured as one of UPSCALE magazine’s business leaders. Ms. Pickrum was also named in ESSENCE Magazine’s 2008 “Power List” for women in business.

Ms. Pickrum has been a featured speaker at events including the Opportunity Funding Corporation’s 2008 and 2009 Forums; the 2009 Corporate Council on Africa’s U.S.-Africa Business Summit and KPMG’s 2009 diversity forum.

Currently, Ms. Pickrum serves on the following boards: DeVry, Inc. (NYSE: DV); RolloverSystems, Inc.; the RLJ McLarty Landers Automotive Group; and Urban Trust Holdings and Urban Trust Bank. Ms. Pickrum also serves on the Federal Communications Commission Diversity Committee.

Franklin McLarty

Senior Vice President
Franklin McLarty is senior vice president of RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings. A position he has held since the company’s founding. Mr. McLarty has been directly involved in all aspects of the company’s growth into one of the nation’s largest automotive retailers while also overseeing his family’s heritage auto dealerships in Hope, Arkansas.

Prior to entering the automotive industry Mr. McLarty enjoyed a successful career in hotel oriented private equity. From 2003-05 Mr. McLarty was a vice president with McKibbon Hotel Group, a privately held development and management firm, where he was responsible for raising third party capital and divested of more than $135 million in hotel assets to NYSE listed hotel REIT’s. Before his tenure at McKibbon Mr. McLarty was a managing director for the Miami based Seaway Group, where he was responsible for hotel acquisitions, development, and divestitures. Mr. McLarty continues to serve as a member of Seaway Group’s advisory board. Mr. McLarty also worked in various management positions in two of America’s leading luxury hotels: the longest running five-star/five-diamond property in the U.S., The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs and the National Historic Landmark, Biltmore Hotel in Miami.

In 2007, Governor Mike Beebe appointed Mr. McLarty to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Mr. McLarty went on to serve as chairman of the Commission in 2009, making him the youngest ever chair of the AEDC. Mr. McLarty also served as chairman of the 2011 Donald W. Reynold’s Governor’s Cup. Mr. McLarty is currently a board member of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, The Little Rock Film Festival, The Baptist Health Foundation and Fifty for the Future. Mr. McLarty is also serves on the board of The McLarty Companies, a fourth-generation family transportation business. Mr. McLarty also serves as a senior advisor to The Markham Group, a political affairs and campaign management firm. Franklin 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, 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.