Walmart Appoints Erin Nealy Cox As EVP, CLO And Corporate Secretary
Walmart Inc. has appointed Erin Nealy Cox as Executive Vice President of Global Governance, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, effective April 13, 2026.
Cox will lead Walmart’s Global Governance organisation, which oversees legal, compliance, ethics, corporate governance, enterprise risk management, litigation, investigations, corporate security and the company’s Global Security Operations Centre.
Announcing the appointment, John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart, said Cox brings strong leadership experience suited to the scale and complexity of the company.
“To lead Global Governance for a company of our scale and complexity, you need a leader who has thrived in the most demanding environments. Erin is exactly that leader,” Furner said, adding that her blend of legal strategy and operational expertise will support Walmart as it navigates the evolving retail landscape.
Cox joins Walmart from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she has been a partner in the Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations Practice Group since 2021. She previously served as US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, overseeing federal investigations involving white-collar crime, cybersecurity, national security and public corruption.
Earlier in her career, Cox worked as an Executive Managing Director at Stroz Friedberg, leading the firm’s global incident response practice, and also spent nearly a decade as an Assistant US Attorney.
“I am honoured to join Walmart at such a pivotal moment,” Cox said, noting that the company’s purpose-driven approach aligns closely with her professional values.
Cox holds a Juris Doctor from SMU Dedman School of Law and a BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
