Wal-Mart founder’s grandson in-law made vice-chairman after decade of investment
GREG Penner, the grandson-inlaw of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, became heir apparent to the chairman role on Friday after spending almost a decade investing the family’s money as head of a venture firm in Silicon Valley.
Penner, a 44-year- old who participates in triathlons, brings California sensibilities to the Arkansas-based retail chain, which named him vice chairman at its annual meeting last Friday.
Penner received his MBA from Stanford University in 1997 before taking a series of Wal-Mart management jobs. In 2005, he started Madrone Capital Partners, a firm backed by money from Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton and other family members. Penner then joined Wal-Mart’s board in 2008.
By elevating him to the newly created vice chairman position, the Waltons are betting that Penner’s technology experience can help guide the company into a new era of e- commerce and smaller-format stores.
The move also could raise hackles among Wal-Mart’s critics, who say the Waltons already have too much control over the company. Wal-Mart described the change as an act of succession planning and said Penner will begin standing in as chairman when Rob Walton isn’t present.
“I am committed to the longterm success of Wal-Mart,” Penner said in a statement on Friday.
“I look forward to contributing to a stronger Wal-Mart in any way possible, including how we develop new digital capabilities to add to our store offering.”
Wal-Mart declined to make Penner available for an interview, and he didn’t immediately respond to a separate request for comment.
Penner is the son of two sex therapists in Pasadena, California, who have written numerous books. He joined the billionaire Wal-Mart family by marrying Carrie Walton Penner, the granddaughter of Sam Walton.
The couple both attended Georgetown University as undergraduate students and went on to earn graduate degrees at Stanford. The Penners have four kids and live in the wooded Silicon Valley suburb of Atherton.
Before founding Madrone, he was chief financial officer of WalMart Japan and the senior vice president of finance and strategy for Walmart.com. He also served as a general partner at Peninsula Capital, an early- stage venture firm, and worked as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs early in his career. He first worked for Wal-Mart in 1994 as a manager trainee and an assistant buyer.
Madrone was set up to fund venture deals, as well as privateequity transactions and stock investments, with a focus on alternative energy and China. It was one of the backers of Solyndra, the solar-panel maker that received a US$ 535 million US Energy Department loan guarantee before going bankrupt.
Madrone also has invested in at least one company with closer ties to Wal-Mart. It was a venture backer of Progreso Financiero, a financial institution serving Hispanic customers who don’t have bank accounts.
That company’s chief executive officer, Raul Vazquez, is a former Wal-Mart executive, and WalMart director Aida Alvarez serves on the Progreso board.
The retail chain accepts Progreso purchase cards and allows borrowers to make loan payments at its stores, though it has no direct relationship with the lender, Wal-Mart has said.
Madrone participated in multiple Progreso venture capital rounds between 2009 and 2011, helping the startup raise more than US$ 71 million, according to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Making Penner Wal-Mart’s vice chairman solidifies the Walton family’s control of the board at a time when some investors and employees are calling for more independent directors. Rob Walton, 69, is the son of Sam Walton, who started the company in 1962. Rob’s brother Jim also serves on the board, and the family controls more than 50 per cent of WalMart’s outstanding shares.
“It’s absolutely in the opposite direction that we wanted,” said Charmaine Givens-Thomas, an electronics saleswoman at a WalMart store in Evergreen Park, Illinois. “We want Wal-Mart to put an independent person in there to be more fair to the associates and shareholders.”
Rob Walton, Penner’s father-inlaw, has a net worth of US$ 36.3 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires data.
That makes him the eighth richest person in the US. His brother Jim is valued at US$ 37.2 billion, and his sister Alice is worth US$ 35.5 billion. Sam Walton’s other child, John T. Walton, died in 2005 when his home-made airplane crashed in Wyoming. His widow Cristy Walton is worth US$ 39 billion, making her the world’s richest woman. Sam Walton died in 1992. — WP-Bloomberg