Walton to Join Wal-Mart

Alice Walton has left the board of directors for Cannon Express Corp., apparently to join the board of directors of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

“She has been asked to join the Wal-Mart board,” says Dean Cannon, the founder, CEO and president of Cannon Express. “It would be a conflict of interest for her to be on both boards.”

Wal-Mart is the single largest customer of Cannon Express, comprising about 51 percent of the Springdale-based trucking company’s business.

Walton, a daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and founder of The Llama Co. investment firm, owns 283,289 shares of Cannon Express stock, almost 10 percent of the company. She is the second-largest single stockholder behind Dean and Rose Marie Cannon, who jointly own 1,959,216 shares, about 62 percent.

Walton joined the company’s board of directors last year and served on it for one year.The company’s board was expanded from its original four directors to include Walton, whom we hear is a close friend of Dean Cannon, the company’s founder and president.

We haven’t been able to determine if Walton has been added to the Wal-Mart board yet, but normal procedure would dictate that she be elected at the annual stockholders’ meeting in June.