David Glass to retire from Wal-Mart board of directors

David Glass, who had the tough task of succeeding Sam Walton as the CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., will end his more than 33-year Wal-Mart connection when he steps down in June from the Wal-Mart board of directors, the company announced Monday (April 20).

Glass joined the then-small retail company in 1976 as executive vice president of finance and was elected to the board in 1977. He became company president in 1984 and CEO in 1988, where he served until January 2000.
 
“I cannot overstate David’s contribution to our company,” said Rob Walton, chairman of the board and son of founder Sam Walton. “He established a new foundation for the company’s growth, and my dad considered him to be one of the finest retail talents he had ever met.”
 
Glass is credited with establishing the company’s first distribution center outside of Bentonville, and with computerized distribution, proving that the company’s geographic reach could be extended well beyond its home state, according to the Wal-Mart press release. He was always instrumental in the creation of Sam’s Club and was CEO when Wal-Mart first entered the international markets by acquiring Mexican retail operations.

Glass also became a lightning rod for controversy when in 1992 he stormed out of a Dateline NBC interview when questions were asked about the company’s alleged connections to overseas product suppliers who engaged in abusive child labor practices. The interview also challenged Wal-Mart’s “Made in the USA” slogan.