Gregory Boyd Penner (born December 18, 1969) is an American businessman and

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

. Penner is a co-owner and CEO of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. Penner was named the chairman of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

in June 2015. He is the son-in-law of S. Robson Walton and the grandson-in-law of

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...

, the founder of Walmart.

Early life

Penner is the son of Clifford and Joyce Penner, sex therapists based in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

, California. They have published sex-advice books from a Christian perspective. He earned a degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, where he majored in international economics, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1997.

Career

He worked as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. Prior to being named Walmart chairman, Penner held a variety of roles at Walmart. He started as a store employee and eventually became the CFO of Walmart Japan. He was appointed to the Walmart board of directors in 2008 and was named vice-chairman in 2014. Penner is the founder of Madrone Capital Partners, an investment firm located in Menlo Park, California. He is on the board of directors of

Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the l ...

eHarmony Eharmony (styled eHarmony) is an online dating website launched in 2000. eHarmony is based in Los Angeles, California, and owned by Nucom ecommerce, a joint venture of German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media and American private equity ...

Hyatt Hotels Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vaca ...

, Teach for America, and co-chair of

Charter School Growth Fund The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a Broomfield, Colorado-based nonprofit philanthropic venture capital fund that identifies the country's best public charter schools, funds their expansion, and helps to increase their impact. CSGF is driv ...

. On August 9, 2022, the NFL owners approved the purchase of the

by a syndicate consisting of Penner, his wife Carrie, S. Robson Walton, Condoleezza Rice,

Mellody Hobson Mellody Hobson (born April 3, 1969) is an American businesswoman who is president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, and the chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation. She is the former chairwoman of DreamWorks Animation, having stepped down after nego ...

, and Sir Lewis Hamilton. The next day, the Broncos announced that Penner would also be taking over as the team's new CEO after

Joe Ellis Josiah Wear Ellis (born November 16, 1957) is a former American football executive who was the president and CEO of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). College Ellis received his bachelor's degree from Colorado College i ...

stepped down from the position. In his role, Penner is operating head of the franchise. He will have primary responsibility for the Broncos' day-to-day football and business operations in collaboration with his partners in the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group.

Personal life

Penner is married to Carrie Walton Penner, the daughter of S. Robson Walton. Penner met his wife while they were undergraduates at Georgetown University. They have four children and live in Atherton, California.

References

External links

Walmart Corporate Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penner, Greg 1969 births Living people Walton family Stanford University alumni Directors of Walmart Georgetown University alumni People from Atherton, California 21st-century American businesspeople