Stephens Inc. is a privately held, independent financial services firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. As one of the largest privately owned investment banks in the United States, Stephens has 28 offices worldwide and employs more than 1,200 people. Warren Stephens is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Stephens Inc.

In 1933, Witt Stephens founded W.R. Stephens Investments to trade Arkansas Highway bonds, which at the time were selling for as low as pennies on the dollar. By the time the bonds paid off at par in the early 1940s, Stephens had gained a reputation for municipal bond expertise and providing sound financial counseling. In 1946, upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, Jackson T. "Jack" Stephens joined his brother, and, with a handshake, the two brothers formed Stephens, Inc., and a partnership that lasted more than 45 years.

The two brothers quickly began a series of acquisitions that would become a catalyst for the firm's growth and future. In 1945, Stephens purchased Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Company in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and in 1953, acquired what is now Stephens Production, an independent oil and gas exploration company. In 1954, they purchased a controlling interest in the Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company.

In 1948, Stephens sold Sheridan Telephone Exchange to Allied Telephone Company, which later became Alltel, beginning a decades-long relationship that in part continues today.

In 1956, Jack Stephens was named president and CEO of Stephens Inc. and Witt left the firm to become president and chairman of Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company, while both retained their 50-50 share of Stephens Inc. Witt returned to Stephens in the early 1970s.

Jack began to grow Stephens by providing private equity to many young growing companies, much in the way of the British Merchant Bank investing model, predating by decades the private equity endeavors of Wall Street firms. Jack's acumen as an investor was combined in fashion with his ability to form enduring personal relationships with his partners. Several generations of companies and business leaders came to know Jack as not only a smart investment banker, but as a loyal and reliable friend as well. Jack's influence grew beyond Arkansas to the boardrooms of corporate America and to the halls of Washington D.C.; his opinions were sought by investors, CEOs and politicians.

Many of Stephens's private investments were quite successful. In the late 1960s, anticipating the coming revolution in bank data processing, Jack Stephens deployed excess computing capacity at Union Life Insurance Company, which was owned by him and his family. With $400,000 in start-up capital invested, he created Systematics, which would later become a leader in the bank data processing industry. Systematics was eventually acquired by Alltel Corporation and became Alltel Information Services. AIS was later acquired by Fidelity National Financial.

Another late 1960s investment was Purdue Airlines, which Stephens established (initially owning 80%) in partnership with Purdue University. Purdue Airlines operated DC-9 jet aircraft from 1969 through 1971. The carrier also operated Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner's private jet, also a DC-9. The airline was liquidated in early 1971, with Southwest Airlines hiring the entire pilot corps to speed its launch later that year.