Walmart Board Adds Former President, CEO of American Airlines

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Monday that Tom Horton would be joining its board of directors.

Horton, former chairman and CEO of American Airlines, is the board’s 16^th member and will serve as a member of the company’s audit committee.

Horton, 53, has more than 30 years of business and finance experience, according to a Walmart news release. He joined American Airlines in 1985 from international accounting partnership firm Peat Marwick & Co., now KPMG, and continued with American until 2002, rising to the role of senior vice president, finance and CFO.

He left American in 2002 for AT&T, where he served as CFO and later was appointed vice chairman. In 2005, Horton led the evaluation of strategic alternatives that ultimately led to the combination with SBC Communications, which formed the new AT&T.

Horton returned to American in March 2006 as executive vice president of finance and planning. He was named president in 2010 and chairman and CEO in 2011, where he led American through a successful restructuring and turnaround which culminated in the merger with US Airways, creating the world’s largest airline.

He stepped down as president and CEO of American in December 2013 and remained non-executive chairman of the board until June.

Horton is also a board member of Qualcomm Inc.