Walmart CEO Succession and Replacement Plan Identified

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) may soon have the highest form of corporate governance issues on its hands: a change in the chief executive officer position. It appears that Walmart has identified two internal candidates that could be replacements for Mike Duke as CEO of Walmart.

Bloomberg TV has just reported that Doug McMillon and Bill Simon have been identified by the board of directors. Simon is the CEO of Walmart U.S. and Simon is the head of Walmart International.

If you have been a reader of 24/7 Wall St. for very long, you know that CEO change is not a new thing. We called for Lee Scott to be replaced after years of lagging performance. That came about shortly after our call. Now there may be new change coming to Walmart.

Mike Duke served as vice chairman of the company from 2005 to 2009, and his responsibility was Walmart International at the time. Unfortunately, that puts him in the continued hot-seat about the bribery and corruption allegations in Mexico. He is currently listed as being 63 years old.

Walmart was just featured in our own list showing the most popular stores in America by foot traffic. It is hard to know if today's news is something that is imminent or if it is merely a backup plan in case the probes around Walmart Mexico (or elsewhere) widen out again.

As we usually warn readers, we would consider this a rumor until we get a confirmation via press release or in an SEC Filing.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Corporate Governance, Retail, Rumors Tagged: featured, WMT