Wal-Mart brings in the stars for shareholders meeting
Wal-Mart employees filled a massive stadium on the University of Arkansas campus Friday in Fayetteville, Ark., for the company's annual shareholders meeting, shouting, waving pom-poms in the air and singing along with Pharrell.
What are they? Happy.
The four-hour meeting was a star- and selfie-studded spectacle, with performances by Pharrell, Robin Thicke, Florida Georgia Line, Sarah McLachlan, Aloe Blacc — sans Avicii — and Harry Connick Jr. Employees took selfies with executives, the celebs took selfies with the audience.
In between, Wal-Mart executives took the stage: Board Chairman Rob Walton, son of founder Sam Walton, introduced members of his family, as well as board members including Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley Jr. touted the company's $473 billion in sales for the year and $28 billion in income. But Wal-Mart has had five-straight quarters of declining sales and a flat stock performance in the past 18 months. Shares were off 4 cents to $77.27 in late trading Friday.
A video montage showed busloads of employees descending on Fayetteville earlier this week from across the world, attending a baseball game, dunk-tanking, being entertained by a juggler, zip lining, and generally having a great time. President and CEO of Wal-Mart U.S. Bill Simon talked about the opportunities the company gives to employees and its plans to provide more flexible schedules.
Momentarily interrupting the fun and reminding everyone that this was, in fact, a business meeting, shareholders got a chance to voice proposals up for a vote. One called for an independent chairman; another called for an annual report on lobbying expenditures; and another for an annual report on recoupment of executive pay.
Shareholders also considered voting against Wal-Mart's executive compensation plan. The advisory, say-on-pay measure had garnered support from institutional investors and pension funds, as well as proxy consultant Institutional Shareholder Services. None of the measures received enough votes to pass. Meanwhile, shareholders voted to re-elect all 14 board members.
Employees were the only ones during the meeting to address some of Wal-Mart's problems, such as lawsuits over labor law violations, a bribery scandal involving Wal-Mart's international operations managers, and what some say is insufficient pay for store associates.
Charmaine Givens-Thomas, speaking in favor of an independent chairman, said that after eight years with the company, she still makes just $23,000 a year.
At one point, Rob Walton briefly mentioned that people may try to disrupt the meeting, vaguely referring to the protesters seeking higher pay. A working-mothers group that stems from the independent employee organization OUR Walmart protested in 20 cities this week ahead of the meeting, and some were expected to picket outside the arena Friday.
Wal-Mart's positive impact on the community was a consistent theme. The revved-up, proud audience at one point broke into a cheer of "Wal - Mart, Wal - Mart, Wal - Mart" after hearing Simon read a letter from a single mother thanking the company for making a difference in her life.
A video told the story of a grandmother with her heart set on buying her grandson a particular Lego set for Christmas. When she found out it wasn't available at any nearby Wal-Mart stores, a store manager two hours away drove to give her the toy. He was honored onstage and got to take a selfie with CEO Doug McMillon.
McMillon stressed Wal-Mart's commitment to putting the customer first and the "noble pursuit" of saving people money "so they can live better."
"We've always said the customer is our boss, and we'll make decisions based on how we can serve them better," he said. "We need stores that customers want to shop with merchandise they want to buy."