Donald Trump nominates billionaire investment banker Warren Stephens to be the next British ambassador

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated billionaire investment banker Warren Stephens to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Stephens, 67, is chairman, president and CEO of Stephens Inc., a privately owned financial services firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The businessman said to be worth more than $3 billion is a conservative megadonor and one of the richest men in Arkansas.

He will now have the opportunity to serve the United States from Winfield House, the palatial residence of the U.S. Ambassador that overlooks Regents Park in London. 

There was speculation Trump would pick New York Jets owner Woody Johnson for the role for the second time, after his posting in the first administration. 

‘I am pleased to announce that Warren A. Stephens, one of the most successful businessmen in the Country, has been nominated to serve as the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s, a role in which he will act as our Representative to the United Kingdom,’ Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social.

‘Over the last 38 years, while serving as the President, Chairman, and CEO of his company, Stephens Inc., Warren has built a wonderful financial services firm, while selflessly giving back to his community as a philanthropist,’ he continued. ‘Warren has always dreamed of serving the United States full time.’

‘I am thrilled that he will now have that opportunity as the top Diplomat, representing the U.S.A. to one of America’s most cherished and beloved Allies. Congratulations to Warren, his wife, Harriet, their three children, Miles, John, and Laura, and their six grandchildren!’ Trump’s Truth Social post read. 

Stephens was the top political donor in the state of Arkansas, giving $21.2 million to conservative groups in 2023 and 2024, The Arkansas Times reported.

He also wasn’t fully in Trump’s corner.

Early on, he invested $1 million in former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s presidential campaign. 

Hutchinson was one of a trio of anti-Trump candidates to run in the 2024 GOP primaries.  

Back in 2016, Stephens spent millions trying to keep Trump from the Republican nomination, alongside his brother Jackson ‘Steve’ Stephens Jr. 

They were considered the top donors in the conservative ‘stop Trump’ movement, pledging about $3.5 million to the effort. 

But the billionaire donor eventually came around. 

Trump invited Stephens and other top Republican donors to Trump Tower in September and complained he didn’t have enough money to keep Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, at bay, according to an account from The New York Times. 

After that meeting, Stephens doled out several million more dollars, including $1 million toward Make America Great Again Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, according to OpenSecrets.org data.

He will be taking the place of Jane Hartley, who served as ambassador to the United Kingdom since 2022. 

Traditionally, the ambassadorship to the Court of St. James is one of the first announced – and goes to a friend or top donor of the U.S. president. 

But it took months for President Joe Biden to name his ambassador to the U.K.

Among those considered were billionaire donor and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who passed away in October 2021. 

Hartley had previously served as the U.S. ambassador to France under Democratic President Barack Obama.

Her nomination was announced in July 2021. 

Like Stephens, Trump had announced his selection of Johnson before entering the White House in January 2017.