FAYETTEVILLE -- David Glass, former top executive of Walmart and owner of of the Kansas City Royals for two decades died Jan. 9 of complications associated with pneumonia.
Glass was 84.
He joined Walmart in 1976 as executive vice president of finance and was elected to the company's board a year later. He was named president of the retailer in 1984 and took over the reins of the company from founder Sam Walton in 1988 when he was named president and chief executive officer.
A native of Mountain View, Mo., Glass served in the Army from 1954-56 after graduating high school. After leaving the Army, Glass earned a business degree from Southwest Missouri State University, now named Missouri State University, in Springfield, Mo.
Upon graduation, Glass began his retail career in 1960 with Crank Drug Company in Springfield. He left Crank in 1968 after the company was sold and worked for two other companies, including serving as general manager of Consumer Markets in Springfield.
Glass is credited with establishing Walmart's first distribution center in Bentonville, creating Sam's Club, developing the company's supercenters and overseeing the company's first forays into the international marketplace with expansion into Mexico.
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"When we lost my Dad, David provided a steady, visionary hand the company needed to lead it forward," Rob Walton, Sam Walton's oldest son and former chairman of Walmart's board, said in a statement. "He did so with a deep sense of humility while maintaining the values and principals Dad founded the company on."
Glass retired from the CEO post at Walmart in 2000 but remained on the company's board where he chaired the Executive Committee until 2006. He left the board in 2009. The company's David Glass Technology Center bears his name and is in the vicinity of Walmart's new headquarters in Bentonville.
"Due to his authentic humility, we think David Glass may be the most under-appreciated CEO in the history of business," Doug McMillion, Walmart CEO said in a release. "The choices he made and the results of the company reflect his wisdom, dedication and servant leadership. We will miss him immensely and are eternally grateful."
Glass was inducted into the Retail Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in 2003.
Glass was a lifelong baseball fan. In April 2000, Glass and his family bought the Kansas City Royals baseball team and the same year he was elected to the board of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also sat on the Executive Council for Major League Baseball.
"Mr. Glass loved this game, this team and our city with all his heart. He cared deeply for our fans and for the future of baseball," Dayton Moore, senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager of the Royals, said in a statement. "But above all, Mr. Glass placed an emphasis on putting family first which is stressed to out entire organization."
The Royals won the World Series in 2015, the team's first in 30 years. The Royals beat the New York Mets to take home the franchises' second World Series championship. The Springdale-based Northwest Arkansas Naturals is a Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
In August, Glass and his family said they planned to sell the team to an ownership group led by local entrepreneur John Sherman. The deal, valued at $1 billion, finalized in November.
Glass and his wife, Ruth, have three children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
The Glass family will hold a public celebration of life in his honor at 1 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Northwest Arkansas Fellowship Bible Church, 1051 W. Pleasant Grove Road in Rogers.
NW News on 01/18/2020