Arkansas Business

Matthew Allen

Matthew Allen handles big money, directing the global treasury operation for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which includes the cash management of more than $1 trillion annually, but when it comes down to it, he is all about the customer.

“The ability to deliver value to the business ... and ultimately save money and deliver value to the customer,” he said, is what he finds most satisfying about his job.

He has come a long way from the years he spent out in the hot summer sun pulling wild red rice in the fields near his hometown of Hoxie in Lawrence County, a town of fewer than 3,000 people. But he credits his success to that hard-working no-job-too-small attitude.

“I step in and do what needs to be done, whether it’s pulling red rice or global finance,” he said.

Allen’s work takes him around the world, where he meets people from different cultures. He said he appreciates how the people he meets are able to come up with different ways of solving the similar problems humans all over the world face.

Working at Wal-Mart, he said, is an opportunity to make a real and meaningful difference.

“The scale here is so big,” Allen said. And that scale also means the responsibility is great.

The sense of responsibility Allen feels extends to his roots. For the last two years he has helped the Lawrence County Children’s Shelter with its strategic planning. And at his alma mater, Arkansas State University, where he was named a distinguished alum, he serves on the advisory board of the College of Business.