Chairman and owner of Fields Texas Ltd
Texas businessman who was once considered the heir apparent to David Glass in the line of CEO leadership succession at Walmart Inc. has died. William R. “Bill” Fields, a Bentonville native and former high-ranking executive for the world’s largest retailer, died Feb. 16. 2020 He was 70. Fields was chairman and owner of Fields Texas Ltd., an Austin, Texas-based private investment and retail advisory firm that included a China sourcing component. He started the holding company in 2003 with his wife, Lucia Fields. Mr. Fields is Chairman of Intersource Co. Ltd. Previously, Mr. Fields served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Factory 2-U Stores, Inc. from 2002 to 2003, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hudson's Bay Company from 1997 to 1999 and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blockbuster Entertainment Group, a division of Viacom, Inc., from 1996 to 1997. Mr. Fields has also held numerous positions with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which he joined in 1971. He left Wal-Mart in March 1996 as President and Chief Executive Officer of Wal-Mart Stores Division, and Executive Vice President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Mr. Fields also serves as a director of Graphic Packaging Corporation and Sharper Image Corporation. Fields graduated from Bentonville High School in 1966. Alice Walton, the philanthropist and only daughter of Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton, was one of his classmates. Upon graduation from the University of Arkansas with an economics degree, the United States Army recruited Fields during the Vietnam War. Fields — whose own father, a pharmacist, died when he was a boy while the family lived in Texas — was like a surrogate son to Walton, according to a profile of Fields published by Fortune magazine in November 1996. The previous year, according to the article, Fields turned down an offer to become CEO of rival retailer Kmart. Fields held various executive positions at Walmart, which included assistant to Sam Walton, senior vice president of distribution & transportation, executive vice president of Walmart, and president & CEO of the company’s flagship Stores division, now known as Walmart U.S. In that position, he was responsible for more than 2,000 stores, 600,000 employees, and strategic planning in operations, merchandising, marketing and logistics. Today, two of Fields’ nephews work for the company. Charles Redfield is executive vice president of food at Walmart U.S. David Redfield is senior vice president of division operations for Walmart U.S. Fields eventually did leave Walmart in 1996 for Florida to take over as CEO of Blockbuster Entertainment Group, a division of Viacom Inc. After a year at Blockbuster, Fields returned to his roots as a merchant and took a job as president and CEO of Hudson’s Bay Co., Canada’s largest department-store chain.
