william t dillard ii is the ceo of dillard s inc a department store chain based in little rock arkansas as caretaker of his father s company founded in 1938 william t dillard ii strives to preserve the company s strategy to offer fashionable products with exceptional customer service 
early life and educationwilliam t dillard ii was born in nashville arkansas on march 4 1945 he graduated from the sam m walton college of business at the university of arkansas in 1966 with a bachelor s degree in accounting and earned an mba from harvard university as the eldest son of william t dillard sr founder of dillard department stores he began his career at dillard s in 1967 ceo of dillard sfounded in 1938 william t dillard sr built his company to include his children in addition to william t dillard ii his brothers alex dillard and mike dillard serve as president and executive vice president respectively daughters drue matheny and denise mahaffy and grandson bill dillard iii are also vice presidents the retail chain went public in 1969 offering two classes of stock a move meant to keep the family firmly in control and give the family the majority of voting rights 1 today william t dillard ii owns 10 of the company capitalizing on the growth of the mall in the mid 20th century some of dillard s success resides in its investment in real estate dillard s inc owns approximately 90 of the real estate that its stores occupy under william t dillard ii s leadership dillard instituted changes in automated inventory systems private label branding and real estate acquisition yet critics have claimed that the company s management is insular and reluctant to change with the retail industry of the 21st century however post pandemic success is evident in 2022 under william t dillard ii dillard s is a family business that s profitable debt free and leveraged in real estate holdings its stores are located in popular shopping malls and attract a slightly older customers making it somewhat less vulnerable to the online retail shift 90 of dillard s sales are in store purchases compared to 80 for nordstrom and 70 for macy s dillard s main competitors 1notable accomplishmentswilliam dillard ii has served on the board of directors of acxiom corporation since 1988 and on the board of directors of barnes noble inc since 1993 in 2015 he received the university of arkansas chancellor s medal for service in higher education and society he was inducted into the arkansas business hall of fame in 2016 