Moritz joins Walmart Board
Walmart Inc.’s board of directors has appointed retired PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Chairman Bob Moritz as its twelfth member.
Moritz began his term on the board on Thursday when Walmart announced its second-quarter results. He will serve on both the Audit Committee and the Technology and E-Commerce Committee.
Upon his appointment as a member of the Board of Directors, Moritz became entitled to a pro rata amount of the non-executive directors’ compensation for the term of office ending on the date of Walmart’s annual meeting of shareholders in 2025.
His compensation includes a pro rata amount of an annual fee of $100,000, paid quarterly in either cash or Walmart stock.
Moritz retired in June after 39 years in various roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He led the firm’s U.S. practice for seven years as chairman and senior partner before becoming its global chairman.
During his time at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Moritz worked for three years at PricewaterhouseCoopers Japan and with European and US financial services firms operating in Asia.
Moritz has a professional background in auditing and insurance and primarily serves clients in the capital markets, banking and financial services sectors.
— Serenah McKay
Syphilis home test receives FDA approval
Springdale-based NOWDiagnostics Inc. announced Friday that it has received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its over-the-counter First To Know Syphilis Test.
The test provides results that can be obtained at home in 15 minutes with a single drop of blood. It is the first and only test of its kind, the company said in a press release. NOWDiagnostics develops and manufactures over-the-counter and point-of-care diagnostic tests.
“For the first time ever, consumers have a quick and easy syphilis test that they can do at home and that provides results in minutes,” said Rob Weigle, CEO of NOWDiagnostics, in a press release.
The company said the approval comes at a time when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that syphilis cases increased 80% between 2018 and 2022. If left untreated, the disease can damage the heart and brain and lead to blindness, deafness and paralysis, NOWDiagnostics said.
“This FDA approval is a significant milestone,” said Dr. Gregory Bledsoe, former Surgeon General of Arkansas, in a statement. Bledsoe will retire from his post in Arkansas in 2023 after eight years in the office.
— John Magsam
Arkansas Index closes at 901.80, up 10.54
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the state’s largest publicly traded companies, closed Friday at 901.80, up 10.54 points.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of December 30, 1997.
