Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) named the son-in-law of chairman Rob Walton as his successor on Friday, cementing the founding family’s influence over the retailer as shareholders defeated a measure calling for an independent director to lead the board. Some investors, including large pension funds, had been pushing for a chairman without ties to the Waltons, Wal-Mart’s founding family. Greg Penner, 45, took over as chairman from Rob Walton as of the end of Friday’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas, near where the world’s largest retailer was founded nearly 53 years ago.