Anixter appoints Simon, Swoboda to board

GLENVIEW - Anixter International announced the appointment of two new members, Bill Simon and Charles "Chuck" Swoboda, to its board of directors, effective March 1.

Simon is the former president and chief executive officer (2010 to 2014) and chief operating officer (2007 to 2010) of Walmart U.S., a leading retail corporation. Prior to joining Walmart, Simon held several senior positions at Brinker International, Diageo, Cadbury-Schweppes, PepsiCo and RJR-Nabisco. He also served in the public sector as secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services. Simon is currently a senior advisor to the investment firm KKR and serves as the President of WSS Venture Holdings, LLC. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Darden Restaurants, Inc. and Chico's FAS Inc. Simon received his B.A. (Economics) and MBA from the University of Connecticut.

Swoboda was formerly chairman (2005 to 2017) and chief executive officer (2001 to 2017) of Cree Inc., a publicly traded manufacturer of semiconductors and lighting products. As the CEO, he led the transformation of Cree from a small R & D focused company to a $1.6 billion multi-division global products company. Since 2017, Swoboda has served as the President of Cape Point Advisors, LLC, a private consulting company. He graduated from Marquette University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

"Bill brings a wealth of experience leading complex global companies, and Chuck will contribute his deep expertise of the electrical and lighting businesses," said Sam Zell, chairman of Anixter's board of directors. "I am confident that their perspectives will be valuable to Anixter as we move forward and grow our business."