By Angela Chen
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has added Tom Horton, the former chief
executive of American Airlines, to the retailer's board, bringing
its size to 16 directors.
"Tom's management and business experience and, in particular,
his roles in operational and financial management at American
Airlines will bring valuable insights to the board," Wal-Mart
Chairman Rob Walton said.
Mr. Horton's appointment marks the second new director at
Wal-Mart in recent months after two board members departed.
The retailer faced criticism earlier this year from proxy
adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., which said it
needed a more independent board to improve directors' handling of a
protracted foreign-bribery probe and executive pay, among other
things.
Mr. Horton, who is 53 years old, oversaw the $17 billion merger
between American parent AMR Group, which filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in November 2011, and US Airways Group that formed
American Airlines Group in December 2013. American Airlines is now
the country's largest carrier.
Mr. Horton joined AMR in 1985, rising to chief financial
officer. He left American in 2002 for AT&T Inc. to serve as CFO
and, later, vice chairman, but returned to AMR in 2006. He became
chief executive of AMR the day it filed for bankruptcy-court
protection in 2011, but the terms of the merger required him to
cede the CEO slot to Doug Parker, the former CEO of US Airways. Mr.
Horton had a transitional appointment as nonexecutive chairman
until June 2014.
Mr. Horton will serve as a member of Wal-Mart's audit
committee.
In September, Wal-Mart named Instagram Chief Executive Kevin
Systrom to its board in a bid to expand its technology expertise to
better compete with Web rivals like Amazon.com Inc.
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has struggled as
shoppers favor smaller stores and make more purchases online. The
company recently said it would build half as many supercenters next
year as this year and will instead shift investment to e-commerce,
which represents the fastest-growing part of its business but
continues to generate operating losses. In October, Wal-Mart cut
its sales growth forecast for the current fiscal year to between 2%
to 3%, down from a previous range of 3% to 5%, citing a
tougher-than-expected sales environment.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@dowjones.com
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