Walmart Inc. of Bentonville said Tuesday that its annual shareholders’ meeting will once again take place only online.
The publicly traded retailer, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, said an audio webcast of the formal business meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 2. An “Associate Celebration” webcast will follow on Friday, June 4, and will include entertainment and “messages from senior executives,” the company said.
The annual event typically attracts Walmart, Sam’s Club and international employees from all over the world and is part of a week of events that usually take place around the first week of June. It all culminates with a Friday morning celebration that fills Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.
Celebrities often take the stage alongside key Walmart executives, including President and CEO Doug McMillon.
Walmart announced the cancellation of in-person shareholder events on April 3 last year as the federal government and states began instituting COVID-19 restrictions.
The retailer instead held its 50th annual meeting entirely online, and McMillon updated shareholders on bonuses for its employees, a new leave of absence policy for those uncomfortable with working amid the pandemic, a program to hire more than 300,000 temporary workers and efforts to make stores safer for customers and employees.
Shareholders for this year’s meeting can vote their shares electronically, online, by mail or by phone before the formal business meeting on June 2. Shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting may also vote their shares online during the meeting.
The record date for shareholders who can vote is Friday, April 9. The company’s proxy statement will be filed in April. The public will also be able to listen to the meeting through a link on the company’s website.
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