By Siddharth Cavale
(Reuters) -Walmart said on Thursday that Rob Walton, the longest serving member on its board, would retire from his position of the big-box retailer at the end of his term on June 5.
Walton, the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, served as the company’s chairman of the board of directors after his father died in 1992 and held the post until June 2015.
He was replaced by his son-in-law Greg Penner, who remains chairman of world’s largest retailer.
“His leadership has been critical as we’ve grown our business over so many years,” Penner said in a regulatory filing announcing Walton’s retirement.
Walmart said it has nominated Brian Niccol, chairman and CEO of restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill to replace Walton on the board, which consists of 11 directors. If elected, Niccol would be the fifth new independent director added to the board since 2017, the company said.
Walton, 79, is the longest serving member of the board and helped shape some of its most important moments, including working on its initial public offering in 1970.
After joining the company in 1969, Walton held several roles, including senior vice president, corporate secretary, general counsel and vice chairman.
Rob Walton is the 19th richest man in the world with a current net worth of $77.4 billion, according to Forbes. Much of his wealth is tied to the Walton Enterprises and his stakes in sports teams such as the National Football League’s Denver Broncos.
He owned 6.97 million shares of Walmart as of Feb. 23, or 0.09% of the total, according to LSEG data, which amounts to about $420 million at Walmart’s closing stock price of $60.21 on Thursday.
The Walton family is the richest family in America, according to Forbes, thanks to their nearly 45% stake in the retailer.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York and Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Bill Berkrot)
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