MAKING CHANGE AT WALMART - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- President
- Board Chair of the Latino Community Foundation
Family: Married to Raymond J. Baxter, Senior Vice President for community benefits at Kaiser Permanente. Alvarez and Baxter have two daughters.[1] [2]
Ms. Alvarez was a vice president in public finance at First Boston Corporation and Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. prior to 1993.
In March 1993, President Bill Clinton chose Alvarez to become the first director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). In this position, Alvarez was the founding director of the agency charged with regulating the nation's largest housing finance institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In 1993 Alvarez was appointed by President Clinton to a four-year term as Director of Office of Federal Enterprise Housing Oversight (OFHEO), the agency responsible for regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During this time, securitization, or the pooling and sale of individual loans to investors, became a widespread practice with the Enterprises.
In 1995, during Alvarez's term at the OFHEO, the Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed to let Fannie and Freddie get affordable-housing credit for buying subprime securities that included loans to low-income borrowers. Some in the administration later admitted this was a mistake.
In 1997, Alvarez was appointed by President Bill Clinton, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, thus becoming the first Hispanic woman and Puerto Rican to serve as an executive officer in the U.S. Cabinet.
Ms. Alvarez is the Board Chair of the Latino Community Foundation. OUR Walmart members have repeatedly tried to speak with Ms. Alvarez at LCF events. At one such event, in 2012, Ms. Alvarez spoke with OUR Walmart member Eloisa Marquez and committed to meet with her later to discuss her concerns. Despite repeated efforts by Ms. Marquez and others to follow-up to schedule a meeting, Ms. Alvarez has rebuffed that request and all subsequent requests.
Alice Walton gave $1.7 million in favor of a 2012 state-wide charter school initiative, which was nicknamed "the billionaires' initiative" because of massive financial support from Walton and other colossally wealthy donors like Bill Gates. Walton was the second largest donor to the initiative. It was the fourth time that a charter school initiative had been on the ballot in Washington; all of the previous initiatives failed including the one in 2004, to which Alice's late brother, John, was the biggest contributor. He spent over $1.02 million.
Wisconsin: As the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reported in September 2011, Alice Walton was the top individual contributor to winning state legislative candidates in the 2010 elections that put Republicans in control of the state government. Under the first budget passed by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-majority legislature, funding for public schools was cut by $800 million over two years, while funding for programs that funnel public money to private schools increased by $17 million over two years.
Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation: Former Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and former Trustee. Williams and his wife Janice have often co-chaired one of Ailey's annual events, the Apollo gala.[7]
Ann Walton Kroenke has an estimated net worth of $4.8 billion as of March 2014. She inherited the large majority of her wealth through her inherited ownership of Walmart. Current information about the size of her ownership interest in the company is unavailable.
Her husband Stan Kroenke has an estimated net worth of $5.6 billion as of March 2014.
Ann Walton Kroenke attended Lincoln University and is a registered nurse; it is unclear when she obtained a degree, which Lincoln University she attended, or if she is practicing nursing.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International
- Marriott in 1996 As Senior VP of Business Development
Sorenson has been supportive of Republican presidential candidates John McCain[20] and former Marriott Board of Directors member Mitt Romney.[21]
Audrey J. Walton and Ann Walton Kroenke Charitable Foundation: There are records of an "Audrey J. Walton and Ann Walton Kroenke Charitable Foundation," named after Ann and her mother Audrey, but the foundation maintains no internet presence. The majority of the donations made by the foundation went to other charities in Missouri, such as Boys and Girls Clubs, schools and universities, and other youth-oriented organizations.
Job Titles:
- Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Job Titles:
- Daughter of Walmart Co - Founder
- Walmart Co - Founder
Family: Married Ann Walton Kroenke - daughter of Walmart co-founder Bud Walton - in 1974; two adult children, Josh Kroenke and Whitney Kroenke Burditt. Stan and Ann met on a skiing trip in Colorado in 1971, and Stan was reportedly close with Sam and Bud Walton.
Age: 66
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- CEO of Sam 's Club
McMillon's wife, Shelley, is on the Board of Directors of the Children's Advocacy Center of Benton County and the Board of Directors of the Bentonville Library Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Family: Married to Janice Savin-Williams in 1987. The blog The Black Socialite labeled the Williamses as a "Super Socialite couple." The couple has two children.
Age: 55
A division of Jefferies & Company (a Los Angeles investment bank), Williams started this "boutique" firm that specialized in structuring debt financings for investment grade corporate issuers after leaving Lehman Brothers. His high-profile clients included PepsiCo and General Electric Capital Corp.
Williams is a registered Democrat in the state of New York.[5]
Williams is a longtime acquaintance of former New York City Comptroller H. Carl McCall, a Democrat. In 1998, the New York Times questioned the possible connection between donations to McCall's campaign made by people with ties to Williams Capital and the selection of Williams Capital Group as an investment manager for the state's pension funds.
Job Titles:
- Museum of American Art: Board Member
Unlimited Aerobatics: Director. The London-based company provides aerobatic airplane performances. Walton is an aerobatics competitor and owns an aerobatic plane.
ClientEarth: Former Trustee. ClientEarth is a European non-profit organization whose mission is to use law and legal strategies in environmental campaigns. The Walton Family Foundation is one of the organization's funders
Crystal Bridges received a special tax exemption approved by the Arkansas state legislature in 2005, just prior to the formal announcement of plans to build the museum. Act 1865, sponsored by Horace Hardwick, at the time the Republican state representative from Bentonville, established a sales and use tax exemption for non-profit museums for building construction and purchase of art. Since Arkansas does not require museums to report on their spending, it is impossible to determine the size of the tax benefit to the museum or the corresponding tax loss to the state.[3]
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Daft has been on Walmart's Board of Directors since 2005. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of Graff Diamonds Corporation in May 2012.
Stan Kroenke also owns a seven-bedroom Tuscan villa on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu that was formerly owned by Dodi Fayed, companion to Princess Diana. Princess Di had voiced an interest in moving to the home before her death. Before that, the home was owned by actress Julie Andrews. Stan Kroenke paid $9 million for the beach-front property in 1998.
In November 2011, Ann and Stan Kroenke purchased a home in Aspen, Colorado for $20.75 million. According to Aspen Journalism, it was the "most expensive real estate purchase of 2011" in the ritzy ski resort town.
Job Titles:
- Professor of the Harvard Business School
Job Titles:
- Chief to Leave Goldman Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Director of Dell Inc
- General Partner at Accel Management Co, Inc
- Member of the Board of Rupert Murdoch
Breyer is a general partner at Accel Management Co, Inc. According to an April 2011 Forbes article, Accel currently manages $6 billion worldwide and has partners in Palo Alto, Beijing, India, and London.[6] The firm opened an office in Manhattan in January 2011.[7]
Breyer is also a Director of Dell Inc., where he is the chairman of the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee and serves on the Incubation Advisory Board.
In his role as a venture capitalist, Breyer has served on the boards of many of the companies his firm invests in, such as Marvel Entertainment (which was bought by Disney) and BBN Technologies (bought by Raytheon).
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Chairman of the Community Publishers, Inc
Jim Walton shares 96% ownership of the family's Arvest Bank, of which he is the chairman and CEO, with Rob Walton and John Walton's estate; as of March 2013, the bank's assets totaled approximately $14.2 billion.
Jim Walton is chair of the Community Publishers, Inc., a newspaper and printing company that publishes newspapers in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. His stake in the company is unclear; however, the company's website states that the top eight executives and officers own 100% of the stock.. The value of the company is unknown but Dun and Bradstreet has reported the company's annual sales as $18.5 million.[1]
Jim Walton is recognized as a prolific donor to politicians at both the federal and state level-indeed, in 2006 and 2010, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Walton topped the list of Arkansans giving directly to candidates or political action committees.[3]
Jim Walton has given $636,000 in federal elections since the beginning of the 2008 election cycle-98% went to Republicans or Republican-affiliated political action committees. Walton made headlines for some of his largest contributions: a total of $200,000 to Restore Our Future, the super PAC associated with Mitt Romney's 2012 run for President, and another $100,000 to Our Destiny, the super PAC associated with Jon Huntsman in 2012.
Jim Walton has a troubling history of supporting an extreme right-wing agenda through his political contributions. His preferred causes are anti-LGBT, anti-civil rights, and anti-public education.
Anti-civil rights: Jim Walton drew attention in late 2012 for state-level contributions in Arkansas to extremist politicians and causes. Walton and his wife Lynne have contributed $3,000 to extremist Arkansas State Senator Jason Rapert (R-Conway) since December 2010, according to financial reports filed with the Arkansas Secretary of State. Rapert has faced recent public scrutiny for his anti-gay and anti-choice positions - and for using racially-tinged language to attack President Obama at a rally in 2011. Rapert invited national criticism in early 2013 by pushing radical anti-choice legislation through the Arkansas State Senate. In 2012, Jim Walton also contributed to the re-election campaign of Loy Mauch, an Arkansas state legislator who has called the Confederate flag a "symbol of Jesus Christ" and acknowledged membership in the "neoconfederate" secessionist group known as League of the South.
Additionally, through the Walton Family Foundation, Jim Walton and his family support the American Legislative Exchange Council, the right wing group known for propagating Stand Your Ground, Arizona's anti-immigrant SB 1070, anti-worker legislation, and discriminatory voter ID laws.
Privatizing education: After Mauch's views and Walton's contribution drew attention, Jim Walton asked that the contribution be returned. "The contribution was made because of your support for education reform in Arkansas," Walton's letter to the campaign reads. "Since making the contribution, however, I have learned about some of your views on other issues with which I disagree." Mauch's views on education are wildly outlandish, based on letters written in this decade to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:
"Public education was forced upon the South during Reconstruction to complete the aim of the radical socialists, which was to destroy Southern conservatism."[4]
"Public education is one of the 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto."[5]
Desegregation of American schools "was never about education, but rather the post-American, despotic federal government coercing its will by using the military to execute the whims of a tyrannical judiciary."[6]
In 2004, Jim and John Walton both gave more than $3 million to an organization called All Children Matter, a committee headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., which supports privatizing public education through charter schools and voucher programs. During that election cycle, the organization spent about $8 million supporting state-level politicians in 10 states.
Anit-LGBT rights: Further, in 2008, Jim Walton gave $75,000 to the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, which at the time was supporting a ballot measure to prevent gay families from adopting. Walton's contribution amounted to over 55% of all the money the group raised that cycle. The measure passed but has since been struck down by the Arkansas State Supreme Court (although defended by Walton-backed extremist state representative Jason Rapert).
Wisconsin 2010: The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reported in September 2011 that Jim Walton and his wife Lynne were among the top individual contributors to winning state legislative candidates in the 2010 elections that put Republicans in control of the state government. Six of the top fifteen contributors were members of the Walton family. Under the first budget passed by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-majority legislature, funding for public schools was cut by $800 million over two years, while funding for programs that funnel public money to private schools increased by $17 million over two years.
Family: Josh is the grandson of Bud Walton, who co-founded Walmart with his brother Sam, and the son of Stan and Ann Walton Kroenke. He also has one sister, Whitney Kroenke.
Age: 34
Josh Kroenke's personal wealth has not been publicly disclosed. However, ownership rules in the National Football League prohibiting cross-ownership of sports teams required his father, Stan Kroenke, to divest his ownership in the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, and as result he transferred his ownership to his son. Forbes values the Nuggets at an estimated $855 million and the Avalanche at an estimated $360 million.
Kroenke's father, Stan, has an estimated net worth of $5.8 billion as of January, 2015, while his mother, Ann, has an estimated net worth of $5.6 billion.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Coach of the Iowa State Basketball Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Family: Wife Linda; two adult sons, Eric and Wyatt. Eric is married to Elda Scott, the sister of Walmart executive Gisel Ruiz.
Age: 63
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Vice President
Mayer joined Google in 1999 as the company's 20 th employee and its first female engineer. A self-described geek, she was the voice of the company on many product launches and was considered one of Google's most well-known public figures.
Mayer is a bundler for President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. In October 2010, she and her husband hosted a $30,000-a-head Democratic fundraiser, attended by Obama, at their Palo Alto home. Mayer had raised $386,000 for President Obama campaign as of September 2012, according to the New York Times.
Marissa Mayer joined with other Silicon Valley business leaders in 2013 to fill the coffers of congressional candidate Rho Khanna, the former Obama Administration deputy assistant secretary of commerce who is running in the Democratic Party primary against longtime congressman Mike Honda (D-San Jose). Honda is beloved by traditional Democratic constituencies, but tech industry leaders view Khanna as a more committed champion of their legislative agenda.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Risk Management at Walmart
In 2008, while he was CEO of Sam's Club, McMillon spoke at the American Legislative Exchange Council's Annual Meeting.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Role of CEO at Mercer
Burns was named chair and CEO of Mercer, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, in September 2006. She joined Marsh & McLennan as Executive Vice President on March 1, 2006 and became the MMC's Chief Financial Officer at the end of that month.[8]
Burns is also on the board of Cisco Systems, Inc, where she is also classified as an independent director and serves on the Compensation and Management Development and Finance committees.[19]
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- CEO and President of Wal - Mart Stores, Inc
- Member of the Executive Council
Mike Duke has been CEO and President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., since February 2009. Before he replaced Lee Scott as CEO, he led the company's International division, and was made aware of bribery allegations in the company's Mexican subsidiary as early as October 2005. It is rumored that he will retire soon.
Family: Daughter of James "Bud" Walton, who co-founded Walmart with his brother Sam. Sister of Ann Walton Kroenke. Married to Bill Laurie, a real estate developer and himself a billionaire.
Age: 62
Nancy Walton Laurie received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Memphis, where she met her husband Bill.
Nancy Laurie lists herself as a "housewife" in Federal Election Commission filings. The Lauries own the Clayton, MO-based private holding company Linco Bankshares, which lists Nancy Laurie as its President and Founder. As of March 2013, the company claimed total assets of over $658 million.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Former DOT Secretary Ray LaHood appointed Williams to this committee, which is entrusted with providing "information, advice, and recommendations to the Secretary on ensuring the competitiveness of the U.S. aviation industry and its capability to address the evolving transportation needs, challenges and opportunities of the U.S. and global economy."
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of Walmart 's Board of Directors
Corbett, the former CEO of Woolworths, the largest retailer in Australia,[2] has been on the Walmart Board of Directors since 2006. He is the current Chairman of the Board for Fairfax Media, an Australian media company that owns three national daily papers as well as the Financial Review and a number of radio stations.
Corbett was CEO and Group Managing Director from January 1999 to September 2006. When Mr. Corbett retired from the company in 2006, Woolworth's was Australia's largest private sector employer.[11] Mr. Corbett served as Chief Operating Officer of Woolworths Ltd. since July 1998, Managing Director, Retail since July 1997 and Managing Director, BIG W since May 1990. At his retirement, Corbett announced he would continue to work with Woolworths as a consultant until 2011.[12] At the time of his retirement, one news report, reflecting on Corbett's tenure, stated that he "has overseen a phenomenal growth period, driving group sales up from $18.4 billion to $31.3 billion last year, while in the same period the share price has more than tripled."[13] Under Corbett, Woolworths adopted the slogan "everyday low prices," modeled on Walmart's strategy, and when he was in charge of Woolworths, Corbett met annually with then-Walmart Director Jack Shewmaker. The two companies have been described as having a "close relationship."
Family: Sam Rawlings Walton is the oldest child of Rob Walton and grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Married to Tillie Klearman Walton. No children.
Age: 46
Sam Walton is a car aficionado, and is said to have raced vintage cars at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races as recently as 2004, along with his father.[3]
Sam Walton gave $30,800 to the Obama Victory Fund in the 2008 federal election cycle. He donated $300,000 to Priorities USA, a super PAC supporting President Obama, in 2012. In 2012 and 2014, Walton gave a total of $125,000 to Women Vote, a pro-choice PAC. In 2014, Walton gave $200,000 to NextGen Climate Action Committee, a PAC with ties to California billionaire Tom Steyer.
Job Titles:
- School of Business Advisory Council
In May 2008, the Walton Family Foundation gave Stanford University $4 million with which to support the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (Stanford School of Education). Greg and Carrie Penner reportedly recommended that the Family Foundation give this gift. Carrie Penner graduated from Stanford's School of Education's Administration and Policy Analysis program in 1997.[15]
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager in Walmart 's Information Systems Division
Mike Duke's son-in-law also works for Walmart. Stephen P. Weber is a senior manager in Walmart's Information Systems Division. In 2012, he made approximately $127,235, plus he received approximately $24,000 under the Management Incentive Plan and other benefits totaling approximately $16,100.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Steuart Walton appears to be the first grandchild of Sam Walton to take on a significant role in the family business: News articles indicate that he began working for Walmart out of an office in London, England since before Christmas 2011. The Independent reported that he is leading Walmart's European expansion efforts, and a Walmart spokesman told the newspaper that Walton's position at the company is "part of [Walton's] induction into the Walmart business."
It is unclear how long Walton has been working at his grandfather's company, or when exactly he has worked there. Walton listed "Walmart" as his employer on federal election campaign contributions and donated to the Wal-Mart Political Action Committee in November 2008, but also stated that he had no employer in a September 2010 contribution.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Family: Wife Gail Reinemund. Four children; his oldest son, Steven, worked at Walmart's headquarters in Arkansas from 2003 to 2007.
Age: 65
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Flynn is an avid golfer: in 2011, he played the PGA Pebble Beach Pro-Am with Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is sponsored by KPMG.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Inc.: Director, November 2006 - Present
- Inc.: Independent Director, 2006 - Present Lead Independent Director
Fairfax Media, Ltd: Chairman of the Board, October 2009-present; Non-executive Director since 2003.[15] Fairfax owns three national daily papers in Australia, including the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, as well as the Financial Review and a number of radio stations.